Gamma Rays from a Region of Stellar Oddities

Using the High Energy Spectroscopic System (H.E.S.S.) telescopes, H.E.S.S. Collaboration et al. (2016) present the discovery of a steady and extended very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray source originating from a region containing a number of rare stellar oddities. This VHE gamma-ray source is identified as HESSJ1808-204. The source region of HESSJ1808-204 contains a luminous blue variable candidate LBV 1806-20, a massive stellar cluster Cl*1806-20, and a magnetar SGR 1806-20. High-energy particle acceleration from LBV 1806-20, Cl*1806-20 and/or SGR 1806-20 could be responsible for this VHE gamma ray source. HESSJ1808-204 is estimated to shine with ~4 times the Sun's luminosity in the form of TeV VHE gamma rays.

Reference:
H.E.S.S. Collaboration et al. (2016), "Extended VHE gamma-ray emission towards SGR1806-20, LBV1806-20, and stellar cluster Cl*1806-20", arXiv:1606.05404 [astro-ph.HE]