The supersonic winds produced by massive stars carry a large amount of kinetic power. In numerous scenarios such winds have been proven to produce shocks in which relativistic particles are accelerated emitting non-thermal radiation. Here, we report the first detection of non-thermal emission from a single stellar bubble, G2.4+1.4, associated with a WO star. We observed this source with the uGMRT in Band 4 (550 − 850 MHz) and Band 5 (1050 − 1450 MHz). We present intensity and spectral index maps for this source that are consistent with synchrotron emission (average spectral index, α = −0.83 ± 0.10). The fraction of the available kinetic wind power that is converted into cosmic ray acceleration is estimated to be of the order of a few per cent. This finding constitutes an observational breakthrough and gives new insight on the non-thermal physical processes taking place in the environments of isolated massive stars. In particular, our results show that non-runaway isolated massive stars are capable of accelerating relativistic particles and are therefore confirmed as sources of Galactic cosmic rays.

We present a comprehensive multiwavelength investigation of a likely massive young cluster “IRAS 05100+3723” and its environment with the aim to understand its formation history and feedback effects. We find that IRAS 05100+3723 is a distant (∼3.2 kpc), moderate-mass (∼500 M ⊙), young (∼3 Myr) cluster with its most massive star being an O8.5V type. From spectral modeling, we estimate the effective temperature and log g of the star to be ∼33,000 K and ∼3.8, respectively. Our radio continuum observations reveal that the star has ionized its environment, forming a H ii region of size ∼2.7 pc, temperature ∼5700 K, and electron density ∼165 cm−3. However, our large-scale dust maps reveal that it has heated the dust up to several parsecs (∼10 pc) in the range 17−28 K and the morphology of warm dust emission resembles a bipolar H ii region. From dust and 13CO gas analyses, we find evidence that the formation of the H ii region has occurred at the very end of a long filamentary cloud around 3 Myr ago, likely due to edge collapse of the filament. We show that the H ii region is currently compressing a clump of mass ∼2700 M ⊙ at its western outskirts, at the junction of the H ii region and filament. We observe several 70 μm point sources of intermediate mass and class 0 nature within the clump. We attribute these sources as the second-generation stars of the complex. We propose that the star formation in the clump is either induced or being facilitated by the compression of the expanding H ii region onto the inflowing filamentary material.

An Andor 1K × 1K EMCCD detector has been used to develop an optical imaging polarimeter for use at the Cassegrain focus of 1.2 m telescope of PRL. The optics is derived from an older single-element detector instrument and consists of a rotating half-wave plate as modulator and a Foster prism as an analyser. The field of view of the instrument is 3 × 3 sq arcmin. We describe the instrument and the observational methodology in this document. Extensive observations have been carried out with this instrument covering a large variety of sources e.g. near-Earth asteroids, comets, Lynds dark nebulae, open clusters and AGN such as blazars. In the current communication, we discuss some results from the initial calibration runs while the other results will be presented elsewhere.

Context. QSO B1420+326 is a blazar classified as a flat-spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ). At the beginning of the year 2020, it was found to be in an enhanced flux state and an extensive multiwavelength campaign allowed us to trace the evolution of the flare. Aims. We search for very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission from QSO B1420+326 during this flaring state. We aim to characterize and model the broadband emission of the source over different phases of the flare. Methods. The source was observed with a number of instruments in radio, near-infrared, optical (including polarimetry and spectroscopy), ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray bands. We use dedicated optical spectroscopy results to estimate the accretion disk and the dust torus luminosity. We performed spectral energy distribution modeling in the framework of combined synchrotron-self-Compton and external Compton scenario in which the electron energy distribution is partially determined from acceleration and cooling processes. Results. During the enhanced state, the flux of both SED components of QSO B1420+326 drastically increased and the peaks were shifted to higher energies. Follow-up observations with the MAGIC telescopes led to the detection of VHE gamma-ray emission from this source, making it one of only a handful of FSRQs known in this energy range. Modeling allows us to constrain the evolution of the magnetic field and electron energy distribution in the emission region. The gamma-ray flare was accompanied by a rotation of the optical polarization vector during a low-polarization state. Also, a new superluminal radio knot contemporaneously appeared in the radio image of the jet. The optical spectroscopy shows a prominent FeII bump with flux evolving together with the continuum emission and a MgII line with varying equivalent width.

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