Diffuse X-ray emission from the planetary nebula NGC 7009

XMM-Newton EPIC observations of the planetary nebula (PN) NGC 7009, the Saturn Nebula, have detected extended X-ray emission in its central cavity. The diffuse X-ray emission must originate in the shocked fast stellar wind. The spectra show that the temperature of the hot gas is 1.8x 10⁶ K. The rms density derived from the volume emission measure is a few tens H-atom cm^-3 . The hot gas does not appear over-pressurized with respect to the nebular shell. NGC 7009 represents an evolutionary stage at which the influence of the hot gas in the PN interior starts to decline due to the diminishing strength of the fast stellar wind and the expansion of the central cavity. Based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA.