• DOI:10.3847/0004-637X/826/1/25
• Corpus ID: 23474306

HARD X-RAY EMISSION FROM SH 2‐104: A NuSTAR SEARCH FOR GAMMA-RAY COUNTERPARTS

@article{Gotthelf2016HARDXE,
  title={HARD X-RAY EMISSION FROM SH 2‐104: A NuSTAR SEARCH FOR GAMMA-RAY COUNTERPARTS},
  author={Eric V. Gotthelf and Kaya Mori and Ester Aliu and Josep Maria Paredes and John A. Tomsick and Steven E. Boggs and Finn E. Christensen and William W. Craig and Charles J. Hailey and Fiona A. Harrison and J. S. Hong and Farid Rahoui and Daniel K. Stern and W. W. Zhang},
  journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
  year={2016},
  volume={826}
}

• E. Gotthelf, K. Mori, +11 authors W. Zhang
• Published 11 May 2016
• Physics
• The Astrophysical Journal

We present NuSTAR hard X-ray observations of Sh 2–104, a compact H ii region containing several young massive stellar clusters (YMSCs). We have detected distinct hard X-ray sources coincident with localized VERITAS TeV emission recently resolved from the giant gamma-ray complex MGRO J2019+37 in the Cygnus region. Fainter, diffuse X-rays coincident with the eastern YMSC in Sh2-104 likely result from the colliding winds of a component star. Just outside the radio shell of Sh 2–104 lies 3XMM J201744.7+365045 and a nearby nebula, NuSTAR J201744.3+364812, whose properties are most consistent with extragalactic objects. The combined XMM-Newton and NuSTAR spectrum of 3XMM J201744.7+365045 is well-fit to an absorbed power-law model with cm−2 and a photon index . Based on possible long-term flux variation and the lack of detected pulsations (≤43% modulation), this object is likely a background active galactic nucleus rather than a Galactic pulsar. The spectrum of the NuSTAR nebula shows evidence of an emission line at E = 5.6 keV, suggesting an optically obscured galaxy cluster at z = 0.19 ± 0.02 (d = 800 Mpc) and LX = 1.2 × 1044 erg s−1. Follow-up Chandra observations of Sh 2–104 will help identify the nature of the X-ray sources and their relation to MGRO J2019+37. We also show that the putative VERITAS excess south of Sh 2–104, is most likely associated with the newly discovered Fermi pulsar PSR J2017+3625 and not the H ii region.