An imaging and spectroscopic study of the peculiar SNR 3C397 with XMM-Newton
Abstract
The SNR 3C 397 has a peculiar box-like morphology with a central X-ray `hot spot' and a sharp boundary in the west. Earlier X-ray spectroscopy with ASCA and Chandra showed that the central spot is thermal in nature, that the column density increases from east to west, and that the X-ray spectrum is dominated by thermal emission from (at least) two compo-nents: a low-temperature plasma characterized by a high ionization timescale, mixed with a high-temperature, ejecta-dominated plasma (mainly Fe-K), characterized by a low ionization timescale. This, together with millimeter observations of the environs of 3C 397, led to the suggestion that 3C 397 is a ∼5 kyr old SNR expanding in an inhomogeneous medium, en-countering a molecular cloud towards the west, and evolving into a mixed-morphology SNR. Most recently, new CO observations showed that the SNR is well confined in a cavity of molec-ular gas and embedded at the edge of a molecular cloud at VLSR ∼32 km/s. The 12 CO line broadening of the 32 km/s component provided direct evidence of interaction between the SNR and a molecular cloud at the western boundary of the remnant. To date, there is no evidence of a compact object or a pulsar wind nebula associated with this remnant. We here present an XMM-Newton imaging and spectroscopic analysis of 3C 397 targeted to 1) map the ejecta distribution (in particular of Mg, Si, S and Fe) across the SNR, 2) constrain the spectral and physical properties of the supernova and its progenitor star, and 3) address the absence of a neutron star or wind nebula associated with the SNR.
- Publication:
-
38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010cosp...38.2782S