VLA and XMM-Newton observations of the SNR W41/TeV Gamma-ray source HESS J1834-087

Abstract

The recently discovered extended TeV source HESS J1834-087 is associated with both a diffuse X-ray enhancement and a molecular cloud, projected at the center of an old radio supernova remnant G23.3-0.3 (SNR W41). New HI observations from the VLA Galactic Plane Survey (VGPS) show unambiguous structures associated with W41 in the radial velocity range of 53 to 63 km/s, so we obtain for W41 a distance of 4+-0.2 kpc. A new higher sensitivity VGPS continuum image of W41 at 1420 MHz shows faint emission in its eastern part not detected by previous observations, so we give a new angular size of 36'x30' in b-l direction (average radius of 19 pc). We estimate for W41 a Sedov age of ~10e5 yr. New XMM-Newton observation reveals diffuse X-ray emission within the HESS source and suggests an association between the X-ray and Gamma-ray emission. The high-resolution ^{13}CO images of W41 further reveal a giant molecular cloud (GMC) located at the center of W41, likely associated with W41 in the the radial velocity range of 61 to 66 km/s. Altogether, the new observations can be interpreted as providing the first evidence that an old SNR encounters a GMC to emit TeV gamma-rays in the cloud material.

11 page, 5 figs, 1 table, accepted by ApJ letters

References in corpus (3)

• The Boston University-Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory Galactic Ring Survey
• The VLA Galactic Plane Survey
• Swift/XRT follow-up observations of TeV sources of the HESS Inner Galaxy survey

Cited by in corpus (21)

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• The Distances of SNR W41 and overlapping HII regions
• Unified model for the gamma-ray emission of supernova remnants
• Radio and X-ray images of SNR G18.8+0.3 interacting with molecular clouds
• Learning About the Magnetar Swift J1834.9-0846 from its Wind Nebula
• Probing the gamma-ray emission from HESS J1834-087 using H.E.S.S. and Fermi LAT observations
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• Gamma-Ray Emission from PWNe Interacting with Molecular Clouds
• Thermal radio absorption as a tracer of the interaction of SNRs with their environments
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• Massive stars in the giant molecular cloud G23.3-0.3 and W41
• Towards observing reverberating and superefficient pulsar wind nebulae
• On the Diversity of Compact Objects within Supernova Remnants II: Energy Loss Mechanisms
• The Interaction Between the Supernova Remnant W41 and the Filamentary Infrared Dark Cloud G23.33-0.30
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• Does the gamma-ray binary LS I +61°303 harbor a magnetar?
• High energy gamma-ray detection of supernova remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud
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• Using X-ray observations to identify the particle acceleration mechanisms in VHE SNRs and "dark" VHE sources