A Chandra X-ray study of the mixed-morphology supernova remnant 3C400.2

TL;DR

This study analyzes Chandra X-ray data of supernova remnant 3C400.2, revealing complex plasma states including overionization and ejecta signatures, supporting a relic X-ray evolution scenario.

Contribution

First detection of overionized plasma in the outer regions of a supernova remnant, with detailed plasma modeling linking ejecta and interstellar matter origins.

Findings

Overionized plasma found in outer remnant regions.

Ejecta plasma is hot, underionized, and centrally confined.

Cooler, overionized plasma is present in outer regions.

Abstract

We present an analysis of archival Chandra observations of the mixed-morphology remnant 3C400.2. We analysed spectra of different parts of the remnant to observe if the plasma properties provide hints on the origin of the mixed-morphology class. These remnants often show overionization, which is a sign of rapid cooling of the thermal plasma, and super-solar abundances of elements which is a sign of ejecta emission. Our analysis shows that the thermal emission of 3C400.2 can be well explained by a two component non-equilibrium ionization model, of which one component is underionized, has a high temperature ($kT \approx 3.9$ keV) and super-solar abundances, while the other component has a much lower temperature ($kT \approx 0.14$ keV), solar abundances and shows signs of overionization. The temperature structure, abundance values and density contrast between the different model components suggest that the hot component comes from ejecta plasma, while the cooler component has an interstellar matter origin. This seems to be the first instance of an overionized plasma found in the outer regions of a supernova remnant, whereas the ejecta component of the inner region is underionized. In addition, the non-ionization equilibrium plasma component associated with the ejecta is confined to the central, brighter parts of the remnant, whereas the cooler component is present mostly in the outer regions. Therefore our data can most naturally be explained by an evolutionary scenario in which the outer parts of the remnant are cooling rapidly due to having swept up high density ISM, while the inner parts are very hot and cooling inefficiently due to low density of the plasma. This is also known as the relic X-ray scenario.