Chandra observations of the HII complex G5.89-0.39 and TeV gamma-ray source HESSJ1800-240B

E. J. Hampton*, G. Rowell, W. Hofmann, D. Horns, Y. Uchiyama, S. Wagner

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    8 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We present the results of our investigation, using a Chandra X-ray observation, into the stellar population of the massive star formation region G5.89-0.39, and its potential connection to the coincident TeV gamma-ray source HESSJ1800-240B. G5.89-0.39 comprises two separate HII regions G5.89-0.39A and G5.89-0.39B (an ultra-compact HII region). We identified 159 individual X-ray point sources in our observation using the source detection algorithm wavdetect. 35 X-ray sources are associated with the HII complex G5.89-0.39. The 35 X-ray sources represent an average unabsorbed luminosity (0.3-10 keV) of ~1030.5erg/s, typical of B7-B5 type stars. The potential ionising source of G5.89-0.39B known as Feldt's star is possibly identified in our observation with an unabsorbed X-ray luminosity suggestive of a B7-B5 star. The stacked energy spectra of these sources is well-fitted with a single thermal plasma APEC model with kT ~ 5 keV, and column density NH=2.6×1022cm-2 (AV~10). The residual (source-subtracted) X-ray emission towards G5.89-0.39A and B is about 30% and 25% larger than their respective stacked source luminosities. Assuming this residual emission is from unresolved stellar sources, the total B-type-equivalent stellar content in G5.89-0.39A and B would be 75 stars, consistent with an earlier estimate of the total stellar mass of hot stars in G5.89-0.39. We have also looked at the variability of the 35 X-ray sources in G5.89-0.39. Ten of these sources are flagged as being variable. Further studies are needed to determine the exact causes of the variability, however the variability could point towards pre-main sequence stars. Such a stellar population could provide sufficient kinetic energy to account for a part of the GeV to TeV gamma-ray emission in the source HESSJ1800-240B. However, future arc-minute angular resolution gamma-ray imaging will be needed to disentangle the potential gamma-ray components powered by G5.89-0.39 from those powered by the W28 SNR.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1-19
    Number of pages19
    JournalJournal of High Energy Astrophysics
    Volume11-12
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2016

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