Hot Gas in SMC SNR 0057-7226 and the Giant H 2 Region N66
Abstract
The supernova remnant SNR 0057-7226 and the dense, young cluster NGC 346 lie within the giant H 2 region N66, the most active star formation site in the SMC. Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) observations of the Wolf-Rayet binary system HD 5980, which lies behind the SNR, show high velocity, O 6 and C 3 absorption associated with the far side of the remnant (Hoopes et al 2001, ApJ, 558, L35). Chandra ACIS-I and ROSAT HRI images of N66 show the diffuse X-ray emission associated with the SNR, but little or no diffuse emission around the core of the central cluster. We present high-dispersion, long-slit optical echelle observations of five positions within N66 including positions across the SNR 0057-7226 and NGC 346. These data show bright Hα emission at the SMC rest velocity (v ~155 km s-1). Where the spectrograph slits intersect the SNR, faint Hα emission at high (v ~300 km s-1) and low (v ~50 km s-1) velocities reveals clumps of material on the back and front sides of the SNR shell. Ten FUSE observations of sight lines toward stars in N66--including four toward NGC 346 cluster stars--provide sensitive absorption-line measurements of several ionic species including O 6 which traces hot (T ~3*E5 K), highly-ionized gas and Fe 2 which traces cooler (T ~104 K), ionized and neutral gas. We also present ground based optical narrowband images in Hα , [S 2], and [O 3] which show the morphology of the H 2 region. We use this data set to study the kinematics of the gas in this complex region and to model the properties of the SNR-ISM interaction. This work is supported by NASA Contract NAS5-32985 to the Johns Hopkins University.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2001
- Bibcode:
- 2001AAS...19912403D