The Abundance Inhomogeneity in the Northern Rim of the Cygnus Loop

TL;DR

This study used Suzaku observations to analyze the abundance inhomogeneity in the Cygnus Loop's northern rim, finding significant metal depletion likely due to structural features like breakout regions.

Contribution

It provides detailed spatially resolved plasma analysis of the Cygnus Loop's rim, highlighting abundance variations and exploring potential physical causes.

Findings

Abundances are lower than solar values except at the outer edges.

Resonance scattering and grain condensation do not fully explain the depletion.

Outer edges show higher abundances, suggesting structural origins.

Abstract

We observed the northern rim of the Cygnus Loop with the \textit{Suzaku} observatory in 5 pointings (P21-P25). From the spatially resolved analysis, all the spectra are well fitted by the single component of the non-equilibrium ionization plasma model. From the best-fit parameters, we found that the abundances of the heavy elements are significantly lower than the solar values except those at the outermost edge in P21 and P22. The origin of the depleted metal abundances is still unclear while such deficiencies have been reported from many other rim observations of the Loop. To explain these depletion at the rim regions, we considered the several possibilities. The effects of the resonance-line-scattering and the grain condensation lower the values of the abundances. However, these are not sufficient to account for the abundance depletion observed. We found that the abundances at the outermost edge in P21 and P22 are higher than those at the other regions. From the morphological point of view, it is reasonable to consider that this abundance inhomogeneity is derived from the breakout or the thinness of the cavity wall of the Loop.