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Title: Is HESS J1912+101 Associated with an Old Supernova Remnant?

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
; ; ; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Purple Mountain Observatory and Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)
  2. Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023 (China)

HESS J1912+101 is a shell-like TeV source that has no clear counterpart in multiwavelength. Using CO and H i data, we reveal that V {sub LSR} ∼ +60 km s{sup −1} molecular clouds (MCs), together with shocked molecular gas and high-velocity neutral atomic shells, are concentrated toward HESS J1912+101. The prominent wing profiles up to V {sub LSR} ∼ +80 km s{sup −1} seen in {sup 12}CO ( J = 1–0 and J = 3–2) data, as well as the high-velocity expanding H i shells up to V {sub LSR} ∼ +100 km s{sup −1}, exhibit striking redshifted-broadening relative to the quiescent gas. These features provide compelling evidences for large-scale perturbation in the region. We argue that the shocked MCs and the high-velocity H i shells may originate from an old supernova remnant (SNR). The distance to the SNR is estimated to be ∼4.1 kpc based on the H i self-absorption method, which leads to a physical radius of 29.0 pc for the ∼(0.7–2.0) × 10{sup 5} years old remnant with an expansion velocity of ≳40 km s{sup −1}. The +60 km s{sup −1} MCs and the disturbed gas are indeed found to coincide with the bright TeV emission, supporting the physical association between them. Naturally, the shell-like TeV emission comes from the decay of neutral pions produced by interactions between the accelerated hadrons from the SNR and the surrounding high-density molecular gas.

OSTI ID:
22663276
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 845, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English