The SNR Puppis A Revisited with Seven Years of Fermi Large Area Telescope Observations

Abstract

Puppis A is a very famous and extensively studied supernova remnant (SNR) that shows strong evidence of shock-cloud interaction. We re-analyze the GeV $γ$-ray emission of it using seven years Pass 8 data recorded by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT). The morphology of the $γ$-ray emission is more compatible with that of the thermal X-ray and IR emissions than the radio image, which suggests a possible correlation between the gamma-ray emitting region and dense clouds. The $γ$-ray spectrum in the energy range of 1-500 GeV shows a break at $7.92\pm1.91$ GeV with the photon indices of $1.81\pm0.08$ below the break and $2.53\pm0.12$ above the break, which can naturally explain the lack of TeV $γ$-ray emission from Puppis A. The multi-wavelength observations favor a hadronic origin for the $γ$-ray emission.

9 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, Accepted for publication in ApJ