NuSTAR detection of a hard X-ray source in the supernova remnant-molecular cloud interaction site of IC 443

We report on a broadband study of a complex X-ray source (1SAX J0618.0 + 2227) associated with the interaction site of the supernova remnant (SNR) IC 443 and ambient molecular cloud (MC) using NuSTAR, XMM-Newton, and Chandra observations. Its X-ray spectrum is composed of both thermal and nonthermal components. The thermal component can be equally well represented by either a thin plasma model with kT - 0.19 keV or a blackbody model with kT = 0.11 keV. The nonthermal component can be fit with either a power law with Gamma similar to 1.7 or a cutoff power law with Gamma similar to 1.5 and a cutoff energy at E-cut similar to 18 keV. Using the newly obtained NuSTAR data set, we test three possible scenarios for isolated X-ray sources in the SNR-MC interaction site: (1) a pulsar wind nebula (PWN); (2) an SNR ejecta fragment; and (3) a shocked molecular clump. We conclude that this source is most likely composed of an SNR ejecta (or a PWN) and surrounding shocked molecular clumps. The nature of this hard X-ray source in the SNR-MC interaction site of IC 443 may shed light on unidentified X-ray sources with hard X-ray spectra in rich environments for star-forming regions, such as the Galactic center.