The radio counterpart of the likely TeV binary HESS J0632+057

Abstract

The few known gamma-ray binary systems are all associated with variable radio and X-ray emission. The TeV source HESS J0632+057, apparently associated with the Be star MWC148, is plausibly a new member of this class. Following the identification of a variable X-ray counterpart to the TeV source we conducted GMRT and VLA observations in June-September 2008 to search for the radio counterpart of this object. A point-like radio source at the position of the star is detected in both 1280 MHz GMRT and 5 GHz VLA observations, with an average spectral index, alpha, of ~0.6. In the VLA data there is significant flux variability on ~month timescales around the mean flux density of ~0.3 mJy. These radio properties (and the overall spectral energy distribution) are consistent with an interpretation of HESS J0632+057 as a lower power analogue of the established gamma-ray binary systems.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS (7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table)