Molecular and Atomic Gas Associated with the Gamma Ray Supernova Remnant RCW 103
12 affiliations
- 1Gifu University
- 2Western Sydney University
- 3National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS)
- 4Nagoya University
- 5Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio (IAFE)
- 6National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
- 7The University of Tokyo
- 8RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute
- 9National Institutes of Natural Sciences
- 10The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
- 11Kagawa University
- 12The University of Adelaide
Abstract
We present a study of the interstellar molecular and atomic gas associated with the gamma-ray supernova remnant (SNR) RCW 103 using Mopra ¹² CO( J = 1–0), Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array ¹³ CO( J = 1–0), and Australia Telescope Compact Array and Parkes H i data. We find that CO clouds in the velocity range from −58.7 to −43.5 km s ⁻¹ show a clear spatial correspondence with the X-ray shell of RCW 103, particularly extending from the northwestern to the southeastern regions. The position–velocity diagram of the CO emission reveals an expanding gas motion with an expansion velocity of Δ V ∼ 7.5 km s ⁻¹ , which may have been produced by shock waves and/or stellar winds from the progenitor system. We estimate the total cosmic-ray proton energy to be ∼ 3 . 0 − 0.6 + 1.1 × 1 0 47 erg, adopting a total interstellar proton density of ∼810 cm ⁻³ . This value is more than an order of magnitude lower than those inferred for other gamma-ray-emitting SNRs of comparable age. Given that a substantial amount of dense gas remains within the interior of RCW 103, where thermal X-ray emission is dominant, our results possibly suggest that a significant fraction of the shock energy may have been converted into thermal energy via gas heating, thereby reducing the efficiency of cosmic-ray acceleration.
Versions
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BibTeX
@article{inoue2026molecular,
title = {{Molecular and Atomic Gas Associated with the Gamma Ray Supernova Remnant RCW 103}},
author = {Haruto Inoue and Y. Asano and R. G. Bhuvana and R. Z. E. Alsaberi and R. I. Yamada and K. Tsuge and T. Murase and Y. Fukui and E. M. Reynoso and K. Tachihara and N. Izumi and M. Yamagishi and K. Furuya and N. Harada and K. Tokuda and G. Rowell and M. D. Filipović and Hidetoshi Sano},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae9d56},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9d56},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Molecular and Atomic Gas Associated with the Gamma Ray Supernova Remnant RCW 103
AU - Haruto Inoue
AU - Y. Asano
AU - R. G. Bhuvana
AU - R. Z. E. Alsaberi
AU - R. I. Yamada
AU - K. Tsuge
AU - T. Murase
AU - Y. Fukui
AU - E. M. Reynoso
AU - K. Tachihara
AU - N. Izumi
AU - M. Yamagishi
AU - K. Furuya
AU - N. Harada
AU - K. Tokuda
AU - G. Rowell
AU - M. D. Filipović
AU - Hidetoshi Sano
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - The Astrophysical Journal
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae9d56
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9d56
AB - We present a study of the interstellar molecular and atomic gas associated with the gamma-ray supernova remnant (SNR) RCW 103 using Mopra ¹² CO( J = 1–0), Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array ¹³ CO( J = 1–0), and Australia Telescope Compact Array and Parkes H i data. We find that CO clouds in the velocity range from −58.7 to −43.5 km s ⁻¹ show a clear spatial correspondence with the X-ray shell of RCW 103, particularly extending from the northwestern to the southeastern regions. The position–velocity diagram of the CO emission reveals an expanding gas motion with an expansion velocity of Δ V ∼ 7.5 km s ⁻¹ , which may have been produced by shock waves and/or stellar winds from the progenitor system. We estimate the total cosmic-ray proton energy to be ∼ 3 . 0 − 0.6 + 1.1 × 1 0 47 erg, adopting a total interstellar proton density of ∼810 cm ⁻³ . This value is more than an order of magnitude lower than those inferred for other gamma-ray-emitting SNRs of comparable age. Given that a substantial amount of dense gas remains within the interior of RCW 103, where thermal X-ray emission is dominant, our results possibly suggest that a significant fraction of the shock energy may have been converted into thermal energy via gas heating, thereby reducing the efficiency of cosmic-ray acceleration.
SN - 0004-637X
SN - 1538-4357
ER -