We report a detailed study of an unidentified gamma-ray source located in the region of the compact stellar cluster NGC 3603. This is a star-forming region (SFR) powered by a massive cluster of OB stars. A dedicated analysis of about 10 yr of data from 10 GeV to 1 TeV, provided by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, yields the detection of a pointlike source at a significance of 9 sigma. The source photon spectrum can be described by a power-law model with a best-fit spectral index of 2.35 0.03. In addition, the analysis of a deep Chandra image in the 0.5-7 keV band reliably rules out an extragalactic origin for the gamma-rays. We also conclude that the broadband spectral energy distribution of the point source can be explained well with both leptonic and hadronic models. No firm evidence of association with any other classes of known gamma-ray emitters is found; therefore, we speculate that 4FGL J1115.1-6118 is a gamma-ray-emitting SFR.
Saha L., Dominguez A., Tibaldo L., Marchesi S., Ajello M., Lemoine-Goumard M., et al. (2020). Morphological and Spectral Study of 4FGL J1115.1-6118 in the Region of the Young Massive Stellar Cluster NGC 3603. THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 897(2), 1-12 [10.3847/1538-4357/ab9ac2].
Morphological and Spectral Study of 4FGL J1115.1-6118 in the Region of the Young Massive Stellar Cluster NGC 3603
Marchesi S.Investigation
;
2020
Abstract
We report a detailed study of an unidentified gamma-ray source located in the region of the compact stellar cluster NGC 3603. This is a star-forming region (SFR) powered by a massive cluster of OB stars. A dedicated analysis of about 10 yr of data from 10 GeV to 1 TeV, provided by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, yields the detection of a pointlike source at a significance of 9 sigma. The source photon spectrum can be described by a power-law model with a best-fit spectral index of 2.35 0.03. In addition, the analysis of a deep Chandra image in the 0.5-7 keV band reliably rules out an extragalactic origin for the gamma-rays. We also conclude that the broadband spectral energy distribution of the point source can be explained well with both leptonic and hadronic models. No firm evidence of association with any other classes of known gamma-ray emitters is found; therefore, we speculate that 4FGL J1115.1-6118 is a gamma-ray-emitting SFR.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
