Revisiting the Suzaku spectrum of the Galactic SNR W 49 B: non-detection of iron K-shell charge exchange emission and refined ejecta mass ratios of iron-group elements

TL;DR

This study reanalyzed Suzaku data of the Galactic SNR W 49 B, finding no evidence for charge exchange emission and providing refined ejecta mass ratios that align better with nucleosynthesis models.

Contribution

It clarifies the origin of recombining plasma in W 49 B by addressing systematic uncertainties and refines the ejecta mass ratios with improved spectral analysis.

Findings

No detection of charge exchange emission after accounting for uncertainties.

Refined Fe-group ejecta mass ratios consistent with nucleosynthesis models.

Previous CX detection attributed to missing spectral lines in models.

Abstract

The origin of the recombining plasma in several Galactic SNRs has been debated. A plausible mechanism would be a rapid cooling in the past, either by adiabatic or conductive process. A recent spectral study of W 49 B reported a possible charge exchange (CX) emission due to collisions between the shock-heated ejecta and external cold clouds, which could be a direct support for the conduction cooling scenario. However, a potentially large systematic uncertainty in the spectral analysis has not been examined. In this paper, we revisit the Suzaku spectrum of W 49 B with taking into account the systematic uncertainties in spectral codes and instrumental gain calibration. We find that the previously reported CX flux is fully attributable to dielectronic recombination satellite lines of high-shell transitions that are missing from the present version of the spectral codes. We also report refined Fe-group ejecta mass ratios, which, in comparison to those in the literatures, show a better agreement with theoretical expectations from nucleosynthesis models, either of Type Ia explosions or spherical core-collapse explosions.