(FermiFermi)/LAT study of gamma-ray emission in the direction of the Monoceros Loop supernova remnant

We present an analysis of the gamma-ray measurements by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in the region of the supernova remnant (SNR) Monoceros Loop (G205.5+0.5). The brightest gamma-ray peak is spatially correlated with the Rosette Nebula, which is a molecular cloud complex adjacent to the southeast edge of the SNR. After subtraction of this emission by spatial modeling, the gamma-ray emission from the SNR emerges, which is extended and fit by a Gaussian spatial template. The gamma-ray spectra are significantly better reproduced by a curved shape than a simple power law. The luminosities between 0.2 and 300 GeV are $\sim 4\times {10}^{34}$ erg s⁻¹ for the SNR and $\sim 3\times {10}^{34}$ erg s⁻¹ for the Rosette Nebula, respectively. We argue that the gamma-rays likely originate from the interactions of particles accelerated in the SNR. The decay of neutral pions produced in nucleon–nucleon interactions of accelerated hadrons with interstellar gas provides a reasonable explanation for the gamma-ray emission of both the Rosette Nebula and the Monoceros SNR.