No Arabic abstract
Context. After the release of the gamma-ray source catalog produced by the Fermi satellite during its first two years of operation, a significant fraction of sources still remain unassociated at lower energies. In addition to well-known high-energy emitters (pulsars, blazars, supernova remnants, etc.) theoretical expectations predict new classes of gamma-ray sources. In particular, gamma-ray emission could be associated with some of the early phases of stellar evolution, but this interesting possibility is still poorly understood. Aims. The aim of this paper is to assess the possibility of the Fermi gamma-ray source 2FGL J0607.5-0618c being associated with the massive star forming region Monoceros R2. Methods. A multi-wavelength analysis of the Monoceros R2 region is carried out using archival data at radio, infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths. The resulting observational properties are used to estimate the physical parameters needed to test the different physical scenarios. Results. We confirm the 2FGL J0607.5-0618c detection with improved confidence over the Fermi two-year catalog. We find that a combined effect of the multiple young stellar objects in Monoceros R2 is a viable picture for the nature of the source.
We report on the results of the Chandra observation on the central region of the Monoceros R2 cloud (Mon R2), a high-mass star-forming region (SFR). With a deep exposure of 100 ks, we detected 368 X-ray sources, 80% of which were identified with the NIR counterparts. We systematically analyzed the spectra and time variability of most of the X-ray emitting sources and provided a comprehensive X-ray source catalog for the first time. Using the J-, H-, and K-band magnitudes of the NIR counterparts, we estimated the evolutionary phase (classical T Tauri stars and weak-lined T Tauri stars) and the mass of the X-ray emitting sources, and analyzed the X-ray properties as a function of the age and mass. We found a marginal hint that classical T Tauri stars have a slightly higher temperature (2.4 keV) than that of weak-lined T Tauri stars (2.0 keV). A significant fraction of the high- and intermediate-mass sources have a time variability and high plasma temperatures (2.7 keV). We performed the same analysis for other SFRs, the Orion Nebula Cluster and Orion Molecular Cloud-2/3, and obtained similar results to Mon R2. This supports the earlier results of this observation obtained by Kohno et al. (2002, ApJ, 567, 423) and Preibisch et al. (2002, A&A, 392, 945) that high- and intermediate- mass young stellar objects emit X-rays via magnetic activity. We also found a significant difference in the spatial distribution between X-ray and NIR sources.
We report the detection of high-energy gamma-ray signal towards the young star-forming region, W40. Using 10-year Pass 8 data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT), we extracted an extended gamma-ray excess region with a significance of about 18sigma. The radiation has a spectrum with a photon index of 2.49 +/- 0.01. The spatial correlation with the ionized gas content favors the hadronic origin of the gamma-ray emission. The total cosmic-ray (CR) proton energy in the gamma-ray production region is estimated to be the order of 10^47 erg. However, this could be a small fraction of the total energy released in cosmic rays (CRs) by local accelerators, presumably by massive stars, over the lifetime of the system. If so, W40, together with earlier detections of gamma-rays from Cygnus cocoon, Westerlund 1, Westerlund 2, NGC 3603, and 30 Dor C, supports the hypothesis that young star clusters are effective CR factories. The unique aspect of this result is that the gamma-ray emission is detected, for the first time, from a stellar cluster itself, rather than from the surrounding cocoons.
More than 30 % of $gamma$-ray sources detected in the last source catalog of the Fermi satellite have no observational counterpart at other frequencies. A significant fraction of these sources is positionally in agreement with star-forming regions dominated by associations of T Tauri stars. Rho Ophiuchi, which is one of the closest star-forming regions, matches the unidentified Fermi source 4FGL J1625.3-2338. In this work we modeled the spectral energy distribution considering some dominant radiative processes in T Tauri stars. Accounting for a total of 22 Class III T Tauri stars in the region, integrated $gamma$-ray luminosity in the 100 MeV to 100 GeV energy range is consistent with the observed in the catalog for the 4FGL J1625.3-2338 source.
High-mass stars and star clusters commonly form within hub-filament systems. Monoceros R2, harbors one of the closest such systems, making it an excellent target for case studies. We investigate the morphology, stability and dynamical properties of the hub-filament system on basis of 13CO and C18O observations obtained with the IRAM-30m telescope and H2 column density maps derived from Herschel dust emission observations. We identified the filamentary network and characterized the individual filaments as either main (converging into the hub) or secondary (converging to a main filament) filaments. The main filaments have line masses of 30-100 Msun/pc and show signs of fragmentation. The secondary filaments have line masses of 12-60 Msun/pc and show fragmentation only sporadically. In the context of Ostrikers hydrostatic filament model, the main filaments are thermally super-critical. If non-thermal motions are included, most of them are trans-critical. Most of the secondary filaments are roughly trans-critical regardless of whether non-thermal motions are included or not. From the main filaments, we estimate a mass accretion rate of 10(-4)-10(-3) Msun/pc into the hub. The secondary filaments accrete into the main filaments with a rate of 0.1-0.4x10(-4) Msun/pc. The main filaments extend into the hub. Their velocity gradients increase towards the hub, suggesting acceleration of the gas. We estimate that with the observed infall velocity, the mass-doubling time of the hub is ~2.5 Myr, ten times larger than the free-fall time, suggesting a dynamically old region. These timescales are comparable with the chemical age of the HII region. Inside the hub, the main filaments show a ring- or a spiral-like morphology that exhibits rotation and infall motions. One possible explanation for the morphology is that gas is falling into the central cluster following a spiral-like pattern.
The H.E.S.S. telescope array has observed the complex Monoceros Loop SNR/Rosette Nebula region which contains unidentified high energy EGRET sources and potential very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray source. We announce the discovery of a new point-like VHE gamma-ray sources, HESS J0632+057. It is located close to the rim of the Monoceros SNR and has no clear counterpart at other wavelengths. Data from the NANTEN telescope have been used to investigate hadronic interactions with nearby molecular clouds. We found no evidence for a clear association. The VHE gamma-ray emission is possibly associated with the lower energy gamma-ray source 3EG J0634+0521, a weak X-ray source 1RXS J063258.3+054857 and the Be-star MWC 148.