2021/09/16 by Wilhelmi, Emma de Ona, Mestre, Enrique, Torres, Diego F. +6
#FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2109.07823
Star-forming regions have been proposed as potential Galactic cosmic-ray accelerators for decades. Cosmic ray acceleration can be probed through observations of gamma-rays produced in inelastic proton-proton collisions, at GeV and TeV energies. We analyze more than 11 years of Fermi-LAT data from the direction of Westerlund 2, one of the most massive and best-studied star-forming regions in our Galaxy. The spectral and morphological characteristics of the LAT source agree with the ones in the TeV regime (HESS J1023-575), allowing the description of the gamma-ray source from a few hundreds of MeV to a few tens of TeVs. We will present the results and discuss the implications of the identification with the stellar cluster and the radiation mechanism involved.