We explore the possibility that the G2 gas cloud falling in towards \sgra is the mass loss envelope of a young TTauri star. As the star plunges to smaller radius at 1000 to 6000 \kms, a strong bow shock forms where the stellar wind is impacted by the hot X-ray emitting gas in the vicinity of \sgra. For a stellar mass loss rate of $4\times10^{-8}$ \msun per yr and wind velocity 100 \kms, the bow shock will have an emission measure ($EM = n^2 vol$) at a distance $\sim10^{16}$ cm, similar to that inferred from the IR emission lines. The ionization of the dense bow shock gas is potentially provided by collisional ionization at the shock front and cooling radiation (X-ray and UV) from the post shock gas. The former would predict a constant line flux as a function of distance from \sgra, while the latter will have increasing emission at lesser distances. In this model, the star and its mass loss wind should survive pericenter passage since the wind is likely launched at 0.2 AU and this is much less than the Roche radius at pericenter ($\sim3$ AU for a stellar mass of 2\msun). In this model, the emission cloud will probably survive pericenter passage, discriminating this scenario from others.
We have simulated a Galactic population of young pulsars and compared with the Fermi LAT sample, constraining the birth properties, beaming and evolution of these spin-powered objects. Using quantitative tests of agreement with the distributions of observed spin and pulse properties, we find that short birth periods P_0 ~ 50ms and gamma-ray beams arising in the outer magnetosphere, dominated by a single pole, are strongly preferred. The modeled relative numbers of radio-detected and radio-quiet objects agree well with the data. Although the sample is local, extrapolation to the full Galaxy imp…
Massive protostars have associated bipolar outflows that can produce strong shocks when they interact with the surrounding medium. At these shocks particles can be accelerated up to relativistic energies. Relativistic electrons and protons can then produce gamma-ray emission, as some theoretical models predict. To identify young galactic objects that may emit gamma rays, we crossed the Fermi First Year Catalog with some catalogs of known massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), early type stars, and OB associations, and we implemented Monte Carlo simulations to find the probability of chance coi…
G1.9+0.3 is the youngest known Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) and dominated by X-ray synchrotron emission. Synchrotron X-rays can be a useful tool to study the electron acceleration in young SNRs. The X-ray spectra of young SNRs give us information about the particle acceleration at the early stages of evolution of SNRs. In this work, we investigate the time evolution of roll-off frequency of the synchrotron spectrum from SNR G1.9+0.3 using Suzaku. For this analysis, we use ~101 ks (2011) and ~92 ks (2015) observations with the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer. We find that there are no significan…
We present X-ray and radio observations of the new Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) G306.3-0.9, recently discovered by Swift. Chandra imaging reveals a complex morphology, dominated by a bright shock. The X-ray spectrum is broadly consistent with a young SNR in the Sedov phase, implying an age of 2500 yr for a distance of 8 kpc, plausibly identifying this as one of the 20 youngest Galactic SNRs. Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) imaging reveals a prominent ridge of radio emission that correlates with the X-ray emission. We find a flux density of ~ 160 mJy at 1 GHz, which is the lowest r…
Pulsar wind nebulae are fascinating systems, and archetypal sources for high-energy astrophysics in general. Due to their vicinity, brightness, to the fact that they shine at multi-wavelengths, and especially to their long-living emission at gamma-rays, modelling their properties is particularly important for the correct interpretation of the visible Galaxy. A complication in this respect is the variety of properties and morphologies they show at different ages. Here we discuss the differences among the evolutionary phases of pulsar wind nebulae, how they have been modeled in the past and what…
High-mass binaries hosting young pulsars can be powerful gamma-ray emitters. The stellar wind of the massive star in the system is expected to be clumpy. Since the high-energy emission comes from the pulsar-star wind interaction, the presence of clumps can affect the spectrum and variability of this radiation. We look for the main effects of the clumps on the two-wind interaction region and on the non-thermal radiation. A simple analytical model for the two-wind interaction dynamics was developed accounting for the lifetime of clumps under the pulsar-wind impact. This time plays a very importa…
Galactic winds constitute a primary feedback process in the ecology and evolution of galaxies. They are ubiquitously observed and exhibit a rich phenomenology, whose origin is actively investigated both theoretically and observationally. Cosmic rays have been widely recognized as a possible driving agent of galactic winds, especially in Milky-Way like galaxies. The formation of cosmic ray-driven winds is intimately connected with the microphysics of the cosmic ray transport in galaxies, making it an intrinsically non-linear and multiscale phenomenon. In this complex interplay the cosmic ray di…
Winds are ubiquitous in galaxies and often feature bubble structures. These wind bubbles are characterized by an external forward shock expanding in the surrounding medium and a wind termination shock separating the cool and fast wind from the hot shocked wind. While the forward shock could not be able to accelerate particles efficiently for a long time, at the wind termination shock the necessary conditions for efficient acceleration may be present. We develop a model for particle acceleration at the termination shock of such bubbles analysing the consequences of different possible engines po…
Angular momentum loss by the plasma wind is considered as a universal feature of isolated neutron stars including magnetars. The wind nebulae powered by magnetars allow us to compare the wind properties and the spin-evolution of magnetars with those of rotation-powered pulsars (RPPs). In this paper, we construct a broadband emission model of magnetar wind nebulae (MWNe). The model is similar to past studies of young pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) around RPPs, but is modified for the application to MWNe that have far less observational information than the young PWNe. We apply the model to the MWN …
We present the discovery and timing of the young (age $\sim 28.6$ kyr) pulsar PSR J0837$-$2454. Based on its high latitude ($b = 9.8^{\circ}$) and dispersion measure (DM $ = 143$~pc~cm$^{-3}$), the pulsar appears to be at a $z$-height of $>$1 kpc above the Galactic plane, but near the edge of our Galaxy. This is many times the observed scale height of the canonical pulsar population, which suggests this pulsar may have been born far out of the plane. If accurate, the young age and high $z$-height imply that this is the first pulsar known to be born from a runaway O/B star. In follow-up imaging…
Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) are outstanding accelerators in Nature, in the sense that they accelerate electrons up to the radiation reaction limit. Motivated by this observation, this paper examines the possibility that young pulsar wind nebulae can accelerate ions to ultra-high energies at the termination shock of the pulsar wind. We consider here powerful PWNe, fed by pulsars born with $\sim\,$millisecond periods. Assuming that such pulsars exist, at least during a few years after the birth of the neutron star, and that they inject ions into the wind, we find that protons could be accelerated…
We model the morphology and spectrum of a pulsar wind nebula using a leptonic emission code. This code is a time-dependent, multi-zone model that investigates the changes in the particle spectrum as they traverse the nebula. We calculate the synchrotron and inverse Compton emissivities at different positions in the nebula, obtaining the surface brightness versus the radius, and also the size of the nebula as a function of energy. We incorporate a time and spatially-dependent $B$-field, spatially-dependent bulk particle speed implying convection and adiabatic losses, diffusion, as well as radia…
Jets are ubiquitous in the Universe. They are collimated outflows whose origin is associated to an accretion disc and a central object, and can be very powerful non-thermal emitters. Jets form in active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, microquasars, and young stellar objects. Galactic jets emitting non-thermal emission are typically associated to microquasars, although the jets of massive young stellar objects are also non-thermal sources. The production of non-thermal radiation, in particular radio synchrotron emission, is a clear indication that particle acceleration is taking place in the…
Studies of Fermi data indicate an excess of GeV gamma rays around the Galactic center (GC), possibly due to dark matter. We show that young gamma-ray pulsars can yield a similar signal. First, a high concentration of GC supernovae naturally leads to a population of kicked pulsars symmetric about the GC. Second, while very-young pulsars with soft spectra reside near the Galactic plane, pulsars with spectra that have hardened with age accumulate at larger angles. This combination, including unresolved foreground pulsars, traces the morphology and spectrum of the Excess.
Gamma-ray observations have shown pulsars to be efficient converters of rotational energy into GeV photons and it is of wide-ranging interest to determine their contribution to the gamma-ray background. We arrive at flux predictions from both the young (<~ Myr) and millisecond (~Gyr) Galactic pulsar populations. We find that unresolved pulsars can yield both a significant fraction of the excess GeV gamma rays near the Galactic Center and an inverse Compton flux in the inner kpc similar to that inferred by Fermi. We compare models of the young pulsar population and millisecond pulsar population…
The supersonic stellar and disk winds possessed by massive young stellar objects will produce shocks when they collide against the interior of a pre-existing bipolar cavity (resulting from an earlier phase of jet activity). The shock heated gas emits thermal X-rays which may be observable by spaceborne observa- tories such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Hydrodynamical models are used to explore the wind-cavity interaction. Radiative transfer calculations are performed on the simulation output to produce synthetic X-ray observations, allowing constraints to be placed on model parameters thro…
We predict the observational signatures of galaxy scale outflows powered by active galactic nuclei (AGN). Most of the emission is produced by the forward shock driven into the ambient interstellar medium (ISM) rather than by the reverse shock. AGN powered galactic winds with energetics suggested by phenomenological feedback arguments should produce spatially extended 1-10 keV X-ray emission of 10^(41-44) erg/s, significantly in excess of the spatially extended X-ray emission associated with normal star forming galaxies. The presence of such emission is a direct test of whether AGN outflows sig…
For most elements, the isotopic ratios seen in cosmic rays (CRs) are similar to those in the solar wind. The most important exception to this is $^{22}$Ne/$^{20}$Ne where the CR value is $\sim 5$ times that of the solar wind. According to most recent models of nucleosynthesis, a large amount of $^{22}\mathrm{Ne}$ is generated in Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. In the winds of carbon sequence WR stars, i.e., WC stars, the isotopic ratio $^{22}\mathrm{Ne}$/$^{20}\mathrm{Ne}$ can be much larger than in the solar wind. Here, we consider CRs produced by $^{22}\mathrm{Ne}$-enriched WR winds in compact cluste…
The effects of cosmic-ray diffusion and radiative cooling on the structure of the Galactic wind are studied using a steady state approximation. It is known that realistic cooling processes suppress the wind from launching. The effects of cosmic-ray diffusion are also supposed to be unfavorable for launching the wind. Both of these effects have not been studied simultaneously in a steady-state approximation of the wind. We find 327,254 solutions of the steady-state Galactic wind and confirm that: the effect of cosmic-ray pressure depends on the Alfv{é}n Mach number, the mass flux carried by the…
Energetic particles, such as stellar cosmic rays, produced at a heightened rate by active stars (like the young Sun) may have been important for the origin of life on Earth and other exoplanets. Here we compare, as a function of stellar rotation rate ($Ω$), contributions from two distinct populations of energetic particles: stellar cosmic rays accelerated by impulsive flare events and Galactic cosmic rays. We use a 1.5D stellar wind model combined with a spatially 1D cosmic ray transport model. We formulate the evolution of the stellar cosmic ray spectrum as a function of stellar rotation. The…
Cosmic rays (CRs) are transported out of the galaxy by diffusion and advection due to streaming along magnetic field lines and resonant scattering off self-excited Magneto-Hydro-Dynamic (MHD) waves. Thus momentum is transferred to the plasma via the frozen-in waves as a mediator assisting the thermal pressure in driving a galactic wind. Galactic CRs (GCRs) are accelerated by shock waves generated in supernova remnants (SNRs), and they propagate from the disc into the halo. Therefore CR acceleration in the halo strongly depends on the inner disc boundary conditions. We performed hydrodynamical …
The physics of Cosmic ray (CR) transport remains a key uncertainty in assessing whether CRs can produce galaxy-scale outflows consistent with observations. In this paper, we elucidate the physics of CR-driven galactic winds for CR transport dominated by diffusion. A companion paper considers CR streaming. We use analytic estimates validated by time-dependent spherically-symmetric simulations to derive expressions for the mass-loss rate, momentum flux, and speed of CR-driven galactic winds, suitable for cosmological-scale or semi-analytic models of galaxy formation. For CR diffusion coefficient…
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) drive fast winds in the interstellar medium of their host galaxies. It is commonly assumed that the high ambient densities and intense radiation fields in galactic nuclei imply short cooling times, thus making the outflows momentum-conserving. We show that cooling of high-velocity, shocked winds in AGN is in fact inefficient in a wide range of circumstances, including conditions relevant to ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), resulting in energy-conserving outflows. We further show that fast energy-conserving outflows can tolerate a large amount of mixing wi…
We present a large ${\sim 30" \times 30"}$ spectroscopic survey of the Galactic Center using the SINFONI IFU at the VLT. Combining observations of the last two decades we compile spectra of over $2800$ stars. Using the Bracket-$γ$ absorption lines we identify $195$ young stars, extending the list of known young stars by $79$. In order to explore the angular momentum distribution of the young stars, we introduce an isotropic cluster prior. This prior reproduces an isotropic cluster in a mathematically exact way, which we test through numerical simulations. We calculate the posterior angular mom…
We use three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of vertically stratified patches of galactic discs to study how the spatio-temporal clustering of supernovae (SNe) enhances the power of galactic winds. SNe that are randomly distributed throughout a galactic disc drive inefficient galactic winds because most supernova remnants lose their energy radiatively before breaking out of the disc. Accounting for the fact that most star formation is clustered alleviates this problem. Super-bubbles driven by the combined effects of clustered SNe propagate rapidly enough to break out of galactic discs wel…
