Cosmic Rays from Regions of Star Formation II. The OB Associations (original) (raw)
Symposium - International Astronomical Union
Supersonic stellar winds have recently been proposed as active agents of cosmic-ray acceleration. We try to insert this potential acceleration mechanism in its general astrophysical context. Among galactic objects, OB associations have the narrowest latitude distribution, resembling to that of gamma-ray sources. Here we focus on the bulk rate of kinetic energy deposition in molecular clouds through stellar winds of individual stars pertaining to OB associations. Assuming that a minute fraction of this mechanical energy can be transferred to suprathermal particles, we examine whether OB associations are detectable high-energy gamma-ray sources, owing to the interaction of accelerated particles with the dense molecular cloud still present close to young and massive stars. The 3 factors that govern the gamma-ray “visibility” of a given OB association are i) the rate of kinetic energy deposition , where the summation is done on all mass-losing stars; is the mass-loss rate for the star i...
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.