Coronal lines in SNR spectra.
Abstract
Of the three components of the extended remnant of a supernova, the thin filament and the peripheral shell of synchrotron emission have been extensively studied. The third component, the shock-heated plasma, however, is still poorly understood. Soft X-ray emission from the plasma has been detected for at least eleven galactic supernova remnants (SNRs). If the X-rays from SNRs do indeed originate in a rarefied plasma with temperatures of the order of a few million degrees, the plasma would also be expected to emit optical coronal lines, such as the lambda 5303 Fe XIV line. Detection of such lines would provide for a sensitive estimate of plasma temperature. Evidence is presented to show that the reported coronal line identification in the Vela SNR is unproven. However, it is believed that lambda 5303 has been detected in N49 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and in the Puppis A supernova.
- Publication:
-
Memorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana
- Pub Date:
- September 1978
- Bibcode:
- 1978MmSAI..49..583M
- Keywords:
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- Stellar Coronas;
- Stellar Envelopes;
- Stellar Spectra;
- Supernova Remnants;
- Emission Spectra;
- Filaments;
- Line Spectra;
- Plasma Spectra;
- X Ray Astronomy;
- Astrophysics