ASTRO-H White Paper - Older Supernova Remnants and Pulsar Wind Nebulae

TL;DR

This paper discusses how ASTRO-H can advance understanding of old supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae through high-resolution X-ray observations, focusing on their diverse structures, compositions, and evolution.

Contribution

It highlights three key research areas where ASTRO-H's instruments can provide new insights into old SNRs and PWNe, emphasizing spectral resolution and broad-band X-ray coverage.

Findings

Enhanced understanding of SNR compositions and physical processes.

Insights into the nature of mixed-morphology SNRs.

Improved characterization of pulsar wind nebulae.

Abstract

Most supernova remnants (SNRs) are old, in the sense that their structure has been profoundly modified by their interaction with the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM). Old SNRs are very heterogenous in terms of their appearance, reflecting differences in their evolutionary state, the environments in which SNe explode and in the explosion products. Some old SNRs are seen primarily as a result of a strong shock wave interacting with the ISM. Others, the so-called mixed-morphology SNRs, show central concentrations of emission, which may still show evidence of emission from the ejecta. Yet others, the pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), are seen primarily as a result of emission powered by a pulsar; these SNRs often lack the detectable thermal emission from the primary shock. The underlying goal in all studies of old SNRs is to understand these differences, in terms of the SNe that created them, the nature of the ISM into which they are expanding, and the fundamental physical processes that govern their evolution. Here we identify three areas of study where ASTRO-H can make important contributions. These are constraining abundances and physical processes in mature limb-brightened SNRs, understanding the puzzling nature of mixed-morphology SNRs, and exploring the nature of PWNe. The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) on-board ASTRO-H will, as a result of its high spectral resolution, be the primary tool for addressing problems associated with old SNRs, supported by hard X-ray observations with the Hard X-ray Imager (HXI) to obtain broad band X-ray coverage.