Evidence for thermal x-ray line emission from the synchrotron-dominated supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946
- Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210 (Japan)
- Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot, Service d’Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191, Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Konan University, 8-9-1 Okamoto, Kobe, Hyogo 658-8501 (Japan)
- Department of Physics, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601 (Japan)
- Department of Physics, School of Science and Technology, Kwansei Gakuin University, Sanda 669-1337 (Japan)
- Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043 (Japan)
- Department of Applied Physics and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen Kibanadai-Nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192 (Japan)
- Astrophysical Big Bang Laboratory, Riken, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan)
- Department of Physics and Mathematics, Aoyama-Gakuin University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5258 (Japan)
- Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-Ku, Nagoya 464-8601 (Japan)
- High Energy Astrophysics Laboratory, RIKEN Nishina Center, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan)
We report the first detection of thermal X-ray line emission from the supernova remnant (SNR) RX J1713.7-3946, the prototype of the small class of synchrotron-dominated SNRs. A softness-ratio map generated using XMM-Newton data shows that faint interior regions are softer than bright shell regions. Using Suzaku and deep XMM-Newton observations, we have extracted X-ray spectra from the softest area, finding clear line features at E{sub ph}∼ 1 and ∼1.35 keV. These lines can be best explained as Ne Lyα and Mg Heα from a thermal emission component. Since the abundance ratios of metals to Fe are much higher than solar values in the thermal component, we attribute the thermal emission to reverse-shocked SN ejecta. The measured Mg/Ne, Si/Ne, and Fe/Ne ratios of 2.0–2.6, 1.5–2.0, and <0.05 solar suggest that the progenitor star of RX J1713.7-3946 was a relatively low-mass star (≲20 M{sub ⊙}), consistent with a previous inference based on the effect of stellar winds of the progenitor star on the surrounding medium. Since the mean blastwave speed of ∼6000 km s{sup −1} (the radius of 9.6 pc divided by the age of 1600 years) is relatively fast compared with other core-collapse SNRs, we propose that RX J1713.7-3946 is a result of an SN Ib/c whose progenitor was a member of an interacting binary. While our analysis provides strong evidence for X-ray line emission, our interpretation of its nature as thermal emission from SN ejecta requires further confirmation especially through future precision spectroscopic measurements using ASTRO-H.
- OSTI ID:
- 22882413
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 814, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Since 2009, the country of publication for this journal is the UK.; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
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