Fermi-LAT Observations of Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds
Abstract
Studying gamma rays from supernova remnants interacting with molecular clouds provides a promising route to explore the connection between cosmic rays and supernova remnants, allowing us to assess the mechanisms of particle acceleration and diffusion from the remnant. Energy dependent escape of accelerated cosmic rays from the forward shock of a remnant can lead to illumination of nearby molecular clouds through proton-proton interactions. Probing the gamma rays emitted via neutral pion decay provides a means for tracking the elusive cosmic ray protons as they escape their source, and a method to constrain the local diffusion coefficient around supernova remnants. Using 5 years of Fermi-LAT data, we search the vicinity of several supernova remnants for non-identified GeV emission and correlate the results with archival radio CO line data to identify potential sites of interaction. Here we present the status of this study and discuss the possibility of constraining the diffusion coefficient near supernova remnants.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #223
- Pub Date:
- January 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014AAS...22335317C