Tracing the sources of cosmic rays with molecular ions
Abstract
The rate of ionization by cosmic rays in interstellar gas directly associated with gamma-ray emitting supernova remnants is for the first time calculated to be several orders of magnitude larger than the Galactic average. Analysis of ionization-induced chemistry yields the first quantitative prediction of the astrophysical H2+ emission line spectrum, which should be detectable together with H3+ lines. The predicted coincident observation of those emission lines and gamma-rays will help prove that supernova remnants are sources of cosmic rays.
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