Observations of the post shock break-out emission of SN 2011dh with XMM-Newton

TL;DR

This study analyzes early X-ray observations of SN 2011dh, revealing a transient harder emission component likely from shocked stellar wind, providing insights into the supernova's circumstellar environment.

Contribution

First detailed X-ray spectral analysis of SN 2011dh's post-shock emission, identifying a transient bremsstrahlung component from shocked stellar wind.

Findings

Detected a transient harder X-ray component at ~7 days.

Attributed the persistent emission to inverse Compton scattering.

Identified the harder component as bremsstrahlung from shocked wind.

Abstract

After the occurrence of the type cIIb SN 2011dh in the nearby spiral galaxy M 51 numerous observations were performed with different telescopes in various bands ranging from radio to gamma-rays. We analysed the XMM-Newton and Swift observations taken 3 to 30 days after the SN explosion to study the X-ray spectrum of SN 2011dh. We extracted spectra from the XMM-Newton observations, which took place ~7 and 11 days after the SN. In addition, we created integrated Swift/XRT spectra of 3 to 10 days and 11 to 30 days. The spectra are well fitted with a power-law spectrum absorbed with Galactic foreground absorption. In addition, we find a harder spectral component in the first XMM-Newton spectrum taken at t ~ 7 d. This component is also detected in the first Swift spectrum of t = 3 - 10 d. While the persistent power-law component can be explained as inverse Compton emission from radio synchrotron emitting electrons, the harder component is most likely bremsstrahlung emission from the shocked stellar wind. Therefore, the harder X-ray emission that fades away after t ~ 10 d can be interpreted as emission from the shocked circumstellar wind of SN 2011dh.