The likely Fermi Detection of the Supernova Remnant RCW 103

Abstract

We report on the results from our $\gamma$-ray analysis of the supernova remnant (SNR) RCW 103 region. The data were taken with the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. An extended source is found at a position consistent with that of RCW 103, and its emission was only detected above 1 GeV (10$\sigma$ significance), having a power-law spectrum with a photon index of 2.0$\pm$0.1. We obtain its 1--300 GeV spectrum, and the total flux gives a luminosity of 8.3$\times 10^{33}$ erg s${}^{-1}$ at a source distance of 3.3 kpc. Given the positional coincidence and property similarities of this source with other SNRs, we identify it as the likely Fermi $\gamma$-ray counterpart to RCW 103. Including radio measurements of RCW 103, the spectral energy distribution (SED) is modeled by considering emission mechanisms based on both hadronic and leptonic scenarios. We find that models in the two scenarios can reproduce the observed SED, while in the hadronic scenario the existence of SNR--molecular-cloud interaction is suggested as a high density of the target protons is required.

6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

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