A deep X-ray observation of supernova remnant G304.6+0.1 (Kes 17) with Suzaku

TL;DR

This study presents a detailed Suzaku X-ray analysis of supernova remnant G304.6+0.1, revealing its thermal and non-thermal plasma components, physical parameters, and confirming its classification as a mixed-morphology remnant.

Contribution

First detailed Suzaku X-ray spectral analysis of G304.6+0.1, providing insights into its plasma properties and confirming its mixed-morphology classification.

Findings

X-ray emission dominated by swept-up ambient medium

Thermal plasma with electron temperature ~0.75 keV and high absorption

Non-thermal component with photon index ~1.4

Abstract

In this paper, we present the analysis of a deep (99.6 ks) observation of G304.6 + 0.1 with the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer on board {\it Suzaku} satellite. The X-ray spectral data are well-fitted with a plasma model consisting of a thermal component in collisional ionization equilibrium and a non-thermal component. The thermal emission is well fitted with VMEKAL model with an electron temperature of $kT_{\rm e}\sim 0.75$ keV, a high absorbing column density of $N_{\rm H}\sim 3.9\times10^{22}$ $\rm cm^{-2}$ and near/lower solar abundances which indicate that the X-ray emitting plasma of G304.6 + 0.1 is dominated by swept-up ambient medium. The non-thermal component is well fitted with a power-law model with photon index of $\Gamma \sim 1.4$. We found a relatively high electron density $n_{\rm e}\sim 2.3f^{-1/2}$ cm$^{-3}$, age $t$ $\sim 1.4\times10^4f^{1/2}$ yr, and X-ray emitting mass $M_{\rm x}\sim 380f^{1/2}$ {M\sun} at an adopted distance of d=10 kpc. Using the morphological and spectral X-ray data, we confirm that the remnant is a new member of mixed-morphology supernova remnants.