No Arabic abstract
We observed a linearly sliced area of the Cygnus Loop from the north-east to the south-west with Suzaku in seven pointings. After dividing the entire fields of view (FOV) into 119 cells, we extracted spectra from all of the cells and performed spectral analysis for them. We then applied both one- and two-component non-equilibrium ionization (NEI) models for all of the spectra, finding that almost all were significantly better fitted by the two-component NEI model rather than the one-component NEI model. Judging from the abundances, the high-kT_e component must be the ejecta component, while the low-kT_e component comes from the swept-up matter. Therefore, the ejecta turn out to be distributed inside a large area (at least our FOV) of the Cygnus Loop. We divided the entire FOV into northern and southern parts, and found that the ejecta distributions were asymmetric to the geometric center: the ejecta of Si, S, and Fe seem to be distributed more in the south than in the north of the Cygnus Loop by a factor of about 2. The degree of ejecta-asymmetry is consistent with that expected by recent supernova explosion models.
We present the results of a spatially resolved spectral analysis from four Suzaku observations covering the northeastern rim of the Cygnus Loop. A two-kT_e non-ionization equilibrium (NEI) model fairly well represents our data, which confirms the NEI condition of the plasma there. The metal abundances are depleted relative to the solar values almost everywhere in our field of view. We find abundance inhomogeneities across the field: the northernmost region (Region A) has enhanced absolute abundances compared with other regions. In addition, the relative abundances of Mg/O and Fe/O in Region A are lower than the solar values, while those in the other regions are twice higher than the solar values. As far as we are concerned, neither a circumstellar medium, fragments of ejecta, nor abundance inhomogeneities of the local interstellar medium around the Cygnus Loop can explain the relatively enhanced abundance in Region A. This point is left as an open question for future work.
We analyzed the metal distribution of the Cygnus Loop using 14 and 7 pointings observation data obtained by the textit{Suzaku} and the textit{XMM-Newton} observatories. The spectral analysis shows that all the spectra are well fitted by the two-$kT_e$ non-equilibrium ionization plasma model as shown by the earlier observations. From the best-fit parameters of the high-$kT_e$ component, we calculated the emission measures about various elements and showed the metal distribution of the ejecta component. We found that the distributions of Si and Fe are centered at the southwest of the geometric center toward the blow-out region. From the best-fit parameters, we also estimated the progenitor mass of the Cygnus Loop from our field of view and the metal rich region with a radius of 25 arcmin from the metal center. The result from the metal circle is similar to that from our entire FOV, which suggests the mixing of the metal. From the results, we estimated the mass of the progenitor star at 12-15MO.
We present the results from deep X-ray observations (~400 ks in total) of SN 1006 by the X-ray astronomy satellite Suzaku. The thermal spectrum from the entire supernova remnant (SNR) exhibits prominent emission lines of O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. The observed abundance pattern in the ejecta components is in good agreement with that predicted by a standard model of Type Ia supernovae (SNe). The spatially resolved analysis reveals that the distribution of the O-burning and incomplete Si-burning products (Si, S, and Ar) is asymmetric, while that of the C-burning products (O, Ne, and Mg) is relatively uniform in the SNR interior. The peak position of the former is clearly shifted by 5 (~3.2 pc at a distance of 2.2 kpc) to the southeast from the SNRs geometric center. Using the SNR age of ~1000 yr, we constrain the velocity asymmetry (in projection) of ejecta to be ~3100 km/s. The abundance of Fe is also significantly higher in the southeast region than in the northwest region. Given that the non-uniformity is observed only among the heavier elements (Si through Fe), we argue that SN 1006 originates from an asymmetric explosion, as is expected from recent multi-dimensional simulations of Type Ia SNe, although we cannot eliminate the possibility that an inhomogeneous ambient medium induced the apparent non-uniformity. Possible evidence for the Cr K-shell line and line broadening in the Fe K-shell emission is also found.
X-ray spectroscopic measurements of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant indicate that metal abundances throughout most of the remnants rim are depleted to about 0.2 times the solar value. However, recent X-ray studies have revealed in some narrow regions along the outermost rim anomalously enhanced abundances (up to about 1 solar). The reason for these anomalous abundances is not understood. Here, we examine X-ray spectra in annular sectors covering nearly the entire rim of the Cygnus Loop using Suzaku (21 pointings) and XMM-Newton (1 pointing). We find that spectra in the enhanced abundance regions commonly show a strong emission feature at about 0.7 keV. This feature is likely a complex of He-like O K(gamma + delta + epsilon), although other possibilities cannot be fully excluded. The intensity of this emission relative to He-like O Kalpha appears to be too high to be explained as thermal emission. This fact, as well as the spatial concentration of the anomalous abundances in the outermost rim, leads us to propose an origin from charge-exchange processes between neutrals and H-like O. We show that the presence of charge-exchange emission could lead to the inference of apparently enhanced metal abundances using pure thermal emission models. Accounting for charge-exchange emission, the actual abundances could be uniformly low throughout the rim. The overall abundance depletion remains an open question.
With Hubble Space Telescope Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 observations of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, we examine the interaction of an interstellar cloud with the blast wave on physical scales of 10^15 cm. The shock front is distorted, revealing both edge-on and face-on views of filaments and diffuse emission, similar to those observed on larger scales at lower resolution. We identify individual shocks in the cloud of density n~15 cm^-3 having velocity v_s~170 km/s. We also find the morphologically unusual diffuse Balmer-dominated emission of faster shocks in a lower-density region. The obstacle diffracts these shocks, so they propagate at oblique angles with respect to the primary blast wave. The intricate network of diffuse and filamentary H alpha emission arises during the early stage of interaction between the cloud and blast wave, demonstrating that complex shock propagation and emission morphology occur before the onset of instabilities that destroy clouds completely.