Revealing a peculiar supernova remnant G106.3+2.7 as a petaelectronvolt proton accelerator with X-ray observations

Abstract

Supernova remnants (SNRs) have long been considered as one of the most promising sources of Galactic cosmic rays. In the SNR paradigm, petaelectronvolt (PeV) proton acceleration may only be feasible at the early evolution stage, lasting a few hundred years, when the SNR shock speed is high. While evidence supporting the acceleration of PeV protons in young SNRs has yet to be discovered, X-ray synchrotron emission is an important indicator of fast shock. We here report the first discovery of X-ray synchrotron emission from the possibly middle-aged SNR G106.3+2.7, implying that this SNR is still an energetic particle accelerator despite its age. This discovery, along with the ambient environmental information, multiwavelength observation, and theoretical arguments, supports SNR G106.3+2.7 as a likely powerful PeV proton accelerator.

19 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables; published in The Innovation, 2, 100118 (2021)

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Cited by in corpus (17)

• Repeating Fast Radio Bursts from Collapses of the Crust of a Strange Star
• The Hunt for Pevatrons: The Case of Supernova Remnants
• MAGIC observations provide compelling evidence of the hadronic multi-TeV emission from the putative PeVatron SNR G106.3+2.7
• Evidence for PeV Proton Acceleration from Fermi-LAT Observations of SNR G106.3+2.7
• A pulsar wind nebula origin of the LHAASO-detected UHE gamma-ray sources
• High-resolution VLBI observations of and modelling the radio emission from the TDE AT2019dsg
• The LHAASO PeVatron bright sky: what we learned
• On the hard $\gamma$-ray spectrum of the potential PeVatron supernova remnant G106.3+2.7
• Constraints on Hadronic Contribution to LHAASO Sources with Neutrino Observations
• Supernova connection of unidentified ultra high energy gamma-ray source LHAASO J2108+5157
• Probing LHAASO Galactic PeVatrons through gamma-ray and neutrino correspondence
• A Possible Hadronic Origin of TeV Photon Emission from SNR G106.3+2.7
• Prospect of Detecting X-Ray Halos Around Middle-Aged Pulsars with eROSITA
• Testing the Molecular Cloud Paradigm for Ultra-High-Energy Gamma Ray Emission from the Direction of SNR G106.3+2.7
• PeVatron Candidate SNR G106.3+2.7 in a Low-density Cavity: a Multiwavelength Test
• Can a single supernova remnant account for the gamma-ray emission of G106.3+2.7?
• IRAM 30 m CO-line Observation toward PeVatron Candidate G106.3+2.7: Direct Interaction between the Shock and the Molecular Cloud Remains Uncertain