Spatially resolved spectroscopy of young supernova remnants observed with Chandra
Abstract
The Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) detectors on Chandra have captured the highest resolution X-ray images of several supernova remnants. These images of the shocks, filaments and interactions of the supernova shell with the interstellar medium (or in some cases central objects) are spectacular not only for the incredible imaging clarity they provide, but perhaps more so for the integrated spectral information they contain. Yet the volume of this spatial and spectral data--reaching a new extreme with the megasecond observation of Cassiopeia A this spring--can provide a challenge for analysis. Using a suite of software tools developed for use with the ISIS spectral fitting package, and utilzing distributed processing, we have mapped the variation of spectral line and continnum features throughout the Cassiopeia A and other supernova remnants. We present maps of the elemental distribution, distribution of thermal and non-thermal emission, and plasma temperatures for tens of thousands of individual regions in the remnants. These maps include the results of an analysis of the new megasecond observation of Cas A.
- Publication:
-
35th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004cosp...35.2342S