Supernova remnant G46.8-0.3: A new case of interaction with molecular material

Although the Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) G46.8-0.3 has been known for more than 50 yr, no specific studies of this source or its environment have been published to date. To make progress on this matter, we measured new flux densities from radio surveys and combined them with previous estimates carefully collected from the literature to create an improved and fully populated version of the integrated radio spectrum for G46.8-0.3. The resulting spectrum exhibits a featureless power-law form with an exponent α = −0.535 ± 0.012. The lack of a spectral turnover at the lowest radio frequencies, which is observable in many other SNRs, excludes the presence of abundant ionised gas either proximate to the SNR itself or along its line of sight. The analysis of local changes in the radio spectral index across G46.8-0.3 suggests a tendency to slightly steepen approximately at 1 GHz. Even if this steepening is real, it does not impact the integrated spectrum of the source. Deeper imaging of the radio structures of G46.8-0.3 and spectral maps constructed from matched raw data are needed to provide new insights into the local spectral properties of the remnant. On the basis of the spectral properties of the atomic gas, we placed the remnant at 8.7 ± 1.0 kpc and we revisited the distance to the nearby H II region G046.495-00.241 to 7.3 ± 1.2 kpc. From evolutionary models and our distance estimate, we conclude that G46.8-0.3 is a middle-aged (~1 × 10⁴ yr) SNR. Furthermore, we recognise several ¹²CO and ¹³CO molecular structures in the proximity of the remnant. We used combined CO-H I profiles to derive the kinematic distances to these features and characterise their physical properties. We provide compelling evidence for environmental molecular clouds physically linked to G46.8-0.3 at its centre, on its eastern edge, and towards the northern and southwestern rims on the far side of the SNR shell. Our study of the molecular matter does not confirm that the remnant is embedded in a molecular cavity as previously suggested. G46.8-0.3 shows a line-of-sight coincidence with the γ-ray source 4FGL J1918.1+1215c detected at GeV energies by the space telescope Fermi. A rough analysis based on the properties of the interstellar matter close to G46.8-0.3 indicates that the GeV γ-ray photons detected in the direction to the SNR can be plausibly attributed to hadronic collisions and/or bremsstrahlung radiation.