Extended Gamma-ray Emission from the G25.0+0.0 Region: A Star Forming Region Powered by the Newly Found OB Association? [HEAP]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1704.06110


We report a study of extended $\gamma$-ray emission with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which is likely to be the second case of a $\gamma$-ray detection from a star-forming region (SFR) in our Galaxy. The LAT source is located in the G25 region, $1.7^{\circ} \times 2.1^{\circ}$ around $(l, b) = (25.0^{\circ}, 0.0^{\circ})$. The $\gamma$-ray emission is found to be composed of two extended sources and one point-like source. The extended sources have a similar sizes of about $1.4^{\circ} \times 0.6^{\circ}$. An $\sim 0.4^{\circ}$ diameter sub-region of one has a photon index of $\Gamma = 1.53 \pm 0.15$; and is spatially coincident with HESS J1837$-$069, likely a pulsar wind nebula. The other parts of the extended sources have a photon index of $\Gamma = 2.1 \pm 0.2$ without significant spectral curvature. Given their spatial and spectral properties, they have no clear associations with sources at other wavelengths. Their $\gamma$-ray properties are similar to those of the Cygnus cocoon SFR, the only firmly established $\gamma$-ray detection of an SFR in the Galaxy. Indeed, we find bubble-like structures of atomic and molecular gas in G25, which may be created by a putative OB association/cluster. The $\gamma$-ray emitting regions appear confined in the bubble-like structure; similar properties are also found in the Cygnus cocoon. In addition, using observations with the the XMM-Newton we find a candidate young massive OB association/cluster G25.18+0.26 in the G25 region. We propose that the extended $\gamma$-ray emission in G25 is associated with an SFR driven by G25.18+0.26. Based on this scenario, we discuss possible acceleration processes in the SFR and compare them with the Cygnus cocoon.

Read this paper on arXiv…

J. Katsuta, Y. Uchiyama and S. Funk
Fri, 21 Apr 17
2/73

Comments: 31 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ