AGILE Study of the Gamma-Ray Emission from the SNR G78.2+2.1 (Gamma Cygni)

Abstract

Abstract We present a study of the γ-ray emission detected by the Astrorivelatore Gamma ad Immagini LEggero-Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (AGILE-GRID) from the region of the SNR G78.2+2.1 (Gamma Cygni). In order to investigate the possible presence of γ rays associated with the SNR below 1 GeV, it is necessary to analyze the γ-ray radiation underlying the strong emission from the pulsar PSR J2021+4026, which totally dominates the field. An “off-pulse” analysis has been carried out, by considering only the emission related to the pulsar off-pulse phase of the AGILE-GRID light curve. We found that the resulting off-pulsed emission in the region of the SNR—detected by the AGILE-GRID above 400 MeV—partially overlaps the radio shell boundary. By analyzing the averaged emission on the whole angular extent of the SNR, we found that a lepton-dominated double-population scenario can account for the radio and γ-ray emission from the source. In particular, the MeV–GeV averaged emission can be explained mostly by Bremsstrahlung processes in a high density medium, whereas the GeV–TeV radiation can be explained by both Bremsstrahlung (E γ ≲ 250 GeV) and inverse Compton processes (E γ ≳ 250 GeV) in a lower density medium.