Suzaku Observations of Tycho's Supernova Remnant

TL;DR

This paper reports Suzaku satellite observations of Tycho's supernova remnant, revealing detailed X-ray spectra, including new detections of trace element lines and insights into the emission mechanisms and ionization states.

Contribution

It presents the first detection of Cr and Mn K_alpha lines in Tycho's remnant and analyzes the spectral components and ionization states of elements.

Findings

Detection of Cr and Mn K_alpha lines at 5.48 keV and 5.95 keV.

Identification of a two-component X-ray spectrum with thermal and non-thermal emission.

Estimated ionization states of Cr and Mn similar to Fe XV or XVI.

Abstract

Tycho's supernova remnant was observed by the XIS and HXD instruments onboard the Suzaku satellite on 2006 June 26-29 for 92 ks. The spectrum up to 30 keV was well fitted with a two-component model, consisting of a power-law with photon index of 2.7 and a thermal bremsstrahlung model with temperature of 4.7 keV. The former component can alternatively be modeled as synchrotron emission from a population of relativistic electrons with an estimated roll-off energy of around 1 keV. In the XIS spectra, in addition to the prominent Fe K_alpha line (6.445 keV), we observe for the first time significant K_alpha line emission from the trace species Cr and Mn at energies of 5.48 keV and 5.95 keV, respectively. Faint K_beta lines from Ca (4.56 keV) and Fe (7.11 keV) are also seen. The ionization states of Cr and Mn, based on their line centroids, are estimated to be similar to that of Fe K_alpha (Fe XV or XVI).