Search for Sc-K line emission from RX J0852.0--4622 Supernova remnant with Suzaku

TL;DR

This study used Suzaku X-ray data to search for Sc-K line emission from the supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622, finding no evidence and setting upper limits that challenge previous claims of detection.

Contribution

The paper provides the first restrictive upper limits on Sc-K line emission from RX J0852.0-4622, refuting earlier claims of detection and implications about the remnant's age and distance.

Findings

No detection of 4.1 keV line emission in the NW rim.

Upper flux limit of 1.1x10^-6 s^-1 cm^-2 for the entire field.

Supports the view that the remnant is neither very young nor nearby.

Abstract

We searched for evidence of line emission around 4keV from the northwestern rim of the supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622 using Suzaku XIS data. Several papers have reported the detection of an emission line around 4.1keV from this region of the sky. This line would arise from K-band fluorescence by Sc, the immediate decay product of 44Ti. We performed spectral analysis for the entire portion of the NW rim of the remnant within the XIS field of view, as well as various regions corresponding to regions of published claims of line emission. We found no line emission around 4.1keV anywhere, and are able to set a restrictive upper limit to the X-ray flux: 1.1x10^-6 s^-1 cm^-2 for the entire field. For every region, our flux upper limit falls below that of the previously claimed detection. Therefore, we conclude that, to date, no definite X-ray line feature from Sc-K emission has been detected in the NW rim of RX J0852.0-4622. Our negative-detection supports the recent claim that RX J0852-4622 is neither young (1700--4000 yr) nor nearby(~750 pc).