2023A&A...672A.195D

Aims. We provide new insights into the γ-ray emission from HESS J1912+101, a TeV supernova remnant candidate probably associated with the radio pulsar PSR J1913+1011.
Methods. We obtained new observations at 1.5 GHz using the VLA in the D configuration, with the purpose of detecting the radio shell of the putative remnant. In addition, we observed a single pointing at 6.0 GHz toward PSR J1913+1011 to look for a radio pulsar wind nebula. We also studied the properties of the surrounding interstellar medium using data of the ¹³CO, HI, and infrared emissions, obtained from public surveys.
Results. We do not find evidence of a radio shell down to the sensitivity of the new image at 1.5 GHz. We detect faint diffuse emission around PSR J1913+1011 at 6.0 GHz, which could represent a radio pulsar wind nebula powered by the pulsar. We find dense ambient gas at ∼60 km s^–1, which shows a good spatial correspondence with the TeV emission only in the western and eastern directions. There is also dense gas near the center of HESS J1912+101, where the TeV emission is weak. Using infrared data, we identify an active star-forming region in the western part of the shell.
Conclusions. Based on the poor spatial match between the ambient gas and the TeV emission (which shows a good correlation in the western and eastern directions and an anticorrelation in the other directions), we conclude that the hadronic mechanism alone does not give a satisfactory explanation of the γ rays from HESS J1912+101. Additional contributions may come from leptonic processes in the shell of the supernova remnant, together with contributions from PSR J1913+1011 and its pulsar wind nebula and/or from the star-forming region. A confident determination of the distance to the putative remnant is necessary to determine whether these sources are associated or just appear superimposed in the line of sight.