Capella Corona Revisited: A Combined View from XMM-Newton RGS and Chandra HETGS and LETGS

We present a combined analysis of the X-ray emission of the Capella corona obtained with XMM-Newton RGS and Chandra HETGS and LETGS. An improved atomic line database and a new differential emission measure (DEM) deconvolution method are developed for this purpose. Our new atomic database is based on the Astrophysical Plasma Emission Database and incorporates improved calculations of ionization equilibrium and line emissivities for L-shell ions of abundant elements using the Flexible Atomic Code. The new DEM deconvolution method uses a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique that differs from existing MCMC or χ²-fitting-based methods. We analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each individual instrument in determining the DEM and elemental abundances. We conclude that results from either RGS or HETGS data alone are not robust enough due to their failure to constrain the DEM in some temperature region or the lack of significant continuum emission in the wavelength band of the spectrometers, and that the combination of HETGS and RGS produces more stringent constraints on the DEM and abundance determinations. Using the LETGS data, we show that the recently discovered inconsistencies between the EUV and X-ray lines of Fe XVIII and XIX also exist in more highly charged iron ions, up to Fe XXIII, and that enhanced interstellar absorption due to partially ionized plasma along the Capella line of sight may explain some, but not all, of these discrepancies.