Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds: X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Signatures
The giant molecular clouds (MCs) found in the Milky Way and similar galaxies play a crucial role in the evolution of these systems. The supernova explosions that mark the death of massive stars in these regions often lead to interactions between the supernova remnants (SNRs) and the clouds. These in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Netherlands
2016
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103611 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3243-727X |
| _version_ | 1826212227504406528 |
|---|---|
| author | Slane, Patrick Bykov, Andrei Ellison, Donald C. Dubner, Gloria Castro, Daniel |
| author2 | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research |
| author_facet | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Slane, Patrick Bykov, Andrei Ellison, Donald C. Dubner, Gloria Castro, Daniel |
| author_sort | Slane, Patrick |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The giant molecular clouds (MCs) found in the Milky Way and similar galaxies play a crucial role in the evolution of these systems. The supernova explosions that mark the death of massive stars in these regions often lead to interactions between the supernova remnants (SNRs) and the clouds. These interactions have a profound effect on our understanding of SNRs. Shocks in SNRs should be capable of accelerating particles to cosmic ray (CR) energies with efficiencies high enough to power Galactic CRs. X-ray and γ-ray studies have established the presence of relativistic electrons and protons in some SNRs and provided strong evidence for diffusive shock acceleration as the primary acceleration mechanism, including strongly amplified magnetic fields, temperature and ionization effects on the shock-heated plasmas, and modifications to the dynamical evolution of some systems. Because protons dominate the overall energetics of the CRs, it is crucial to understand this hadronic component even though electrons are much more efficient radiators and it can be difficult to identify the hadronic component. However, near MCs the densities are sufficiently high to allow the γ-ray emission to be dominated by protons. Thus, these interaction sites provide some of our best opportunities to constrain the overall energetics of these particle accelerators. Here we summarize some key properties of interactions between SNRs and MCs, with an emphasis on recent X-ray and γ-ray studies that are providing important constraints on our understanding of cosmic rays in our Galaxy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:18:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/103611 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:18:22Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Springer Netherlands |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1036112022-10-02T02:03:03Z Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds: X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Signatures Slane, Patrick Bykov, Andrei Ellison, Donald C. Dubner, Gloria Castro, Daniel MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Castro, Daniel The giant molecular clouds (MCs) found in the Milky Way and similar galaxies play a crucial role in the evolution of these systems. The supernova explosions that mark the death of massive stars in these regions often lead to interactions between the supernova remnants (SNRs) and the clouds. These interactions have a profound effect on our understanding of SNRs. Shocks in SNRs should be capable of accelerating particles to cosmic ray (CR) energies with efficiencies high enough to power Galactic CRs. X-ray and γ-ray studies have established the presence of relativistic electrons and protons in some SNRs and provided strong evidence for diffusive shock acceleration as the primary acceleration mechanism, including strongly amplified magnetic fields, temperature and ionization effects on the shock-heated plasmas, and modifications to the dynamical evolution of some systems. Because protons dominate the overall energetics of the CRs, it is crucial to understand this hadronic component even though electrons are much more efficient radiators and it can be difficult to identify the hadronic component. However, near MCs the densities are sufficiently high to allow the γ-ray emission to be dominated by protons. Thus, these interaction sites provide some of our best opportunities to constrain the overall energetics of these particle accelerators. Here we summarize some key properties of interactions between SNRs and MCs, with an emphasis on recent X-ray and γ-ray studies that are providing important constraints on our understanding of cosmic rays in our Galaxy. 2016-07-14T19:43:40Z 2016-07-14T19:43:40Z 2014-07 2014-03 2016-05-23T12:07:01Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0038-6308 1572-9672 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103611 Slane, Patrick, Andrei Bykov, Donald C. Ellison, Gloria Dubner, and Daniel Castro. “Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds: X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Signatures.” Space Sci Rev 188, no. 1–4 (July 9, 2014): 187–210. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3243-727X en http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11214-014-0062-6 Space Science Reviews Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht application/pdf Springer Netherlands Springer Netherlands |
| spellingShingle | Slane, Patrick Bykov, Andrei Ellison, Donald C. Dubner, Gloria Castro, Daniel Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds: X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Signatures |
| title | Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds: X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Signatures |
| title_full | Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds: X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Signatures |
| title_fullStr | Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds: X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Signatures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds: X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Signatures |
| title_short | Supernova Remnants Interacting with Molecular Clouds: X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Signatures |
| title_sort | supernova remnants interacting with molecular clouds x ray and gamma ray signatures |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103611 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3243-727X |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT slanepatrick supernovaremnantsinteractingwithmolecularcloudsxrayandgammaraysignatures AT bykovandrei supernovaremnantsinteractingwithmolecularcloudsxrayandgammaraysignatures AT ellisondonaldc supernovaremnantsinteractingwithmolecularcloudsxrayandgammaraysignatures AT dubnergloria supernovaremnantsinteractingwithmolecularcloudsxrayandgammaraysignatures AT castrodaniel supernovaremnantsinteractingwithmolecularcloudsxrayandgammaraysignatures |