Present and Future Gamma-Ray Probes of the Cygnus OB2 Environment

Abstract

The MAGIC Collaboration has provided new observational data pertaining to the TeV J2032+4130 gamma-ray source (within the Cygnus OB2 region), for energies E_gamma >400 GeV. It is then appropriate to update the impact of these data on gamma-ray production mechanisms in stellar associations. We consider two mechanisms of gamma-ray emission, pion production and decay (PION) and photo-excitation of high-energy nuclei followed by prompt photo-emission from the daughter nuclei (A*). We find that while the data can be accommodated with either scenario, the A* features a spectral bump, corresponding to the threshold for exciting the Giant Dipole Resonance, which can serve to discriminate between them. We comment on neutrino emission and detection from the region if the PION and/or A* processes are operative. We also touch on the implications for this analysis of future Fermi and Cerenkov Telescope Array data.

6 pp, 2 figs. Matching version publihed in Phys. Rev. D

References in corpus (9)

• Fermi Large Area Telescope Bright Gamma-ray Source List
• Detection of 16 Gamma-Ray Pulsars Through Blind Frequency Searches Using the Fermi LAT
• The First VERITAS Telescope
• Discovery of TeV Gamma-Ray Emission from the Cygnus Region of the Galaxy
• Detection of extended very-high-energy gamma-ray emission towards the young stellar cluster Westerlund 2
• TeV gamma-rays and neutrinos from photo-disintegration of nuclei in Cygnus OB2
• TeV gamma-rays from photo-disintegration/de-excitation of cosmic-ray nuclei
• The GeV-TeV Connection in Galactic gamma-ray sources
• The Molecular Environment of the Gamma-ray Source TeV J2032+4130

Cited by in corpus (3)

• In Search for Extraterrestrial High Energy Neutrinos
• Gamma-Ray Puzzles in Cygnus X: Implications for High-Energy Neutrinos
• An R- and I-Band Photometric Variability Survey of the Cygnus OB2 Association