Revisiting the PeVatron candidate MGRO J1908+06 with an updated H.E.S.S. analysis

TL;DR

This paper revisits the gamma-ray source MGRO J1908+06 using updated H.E.S.S. data to analyze its morphology and spectrum, aiming to understand cosmic ray acceleration at energies above 100 TeV.

Contribution

It provides an improved analysis of MGRO J1908+06 with higher angular resolution, offering new insights into its morphology and spectral characteristics.

Findings

Refined the source's morphology and spectrum.

Identified potential associations with nearby supernova remnants and pulsars.

Enhanced understanding of gamma-ray emission mechanisms at very-high energies.

Abstract

Detecting and studying galactic gamma-ray sources emitting very-high energy photons sheds light on the acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays presumably created in these sources. Currently, there are few sources emitting photons with energies exceeding 100 TeV. In this work we revisit the unidentified source MGRO J1908+06, initially detected by Milagro, using an updated H.E.S.S. dataset and analysis pipeline. The vicinity of the source contains a supernova remnant and pulsars as well as molecular clouds. This makes the identification of the primary source(s) of galactic cosmic rays as well as the nature of the gamma-ray emission challenging, especially in light of the recent HAWC and LHAASO detection of the high energy tail of its spectrum. Exploiting the better angular resolution as compared to particle detectors, we investigate the morphology of the source as well as its spectral properties.