TY - JOUR
T1 - High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of SNR 1987A
T2 - Chandra letg and hetg observations in 2007
AU - Zhekov, Svetozar A.
AU - McCray, Richard
AU - Dewey, Daniel
AU - Canizares, Claude R.
AU - Borkowski, Kazimierz J.
AU - Burrows, David N.
AU - Park, Sangwook
PY - 2009/2/20
Y1 - 2009/2/20
N2 - We present an extended analysis of the deep Chandra LETG and HETG observations of the supernova remnant 1987A (SNR 1987A) carried out in 2007. The global fits to the grating spectra show that the temperature of the X-ray emitting plasma in the slower shocks in this system has remained stable for the last three years, while that in the faster shocks has decreased. This temperature evolution is confirmed by the first light curves of strong X-ray emission lines and their ratios. On the other hand, bulk gas velocities inferred from the X-ray line profiles are too low to account for the postshock plasma temperatures inferred from spectral fits. This suggests that the X-ray emission comes from gas that has been shocked twice, first by the blast wave and again by shocks reflected from the inner ring of SNR 1987A. A new model that takes these considerations into account gives support to this physical picture.
AB - We present an extended analysis of the deep Chandra LETG and HETG observations of the supernova remnant 1987A (SNR 1987A) carried out in 2007. The global fits to the grating spectra show that the temperature of the X-ray emitting plasma in the slower shocks in this system has remained stable for the last three years, while that in the faster shocks has decreased. This temperature evolution is confirmed by the first light curves of strong X-ray emission lines and their ratios. On the other hand, bulk gas velocities inferred from the X-ray line profiles are too low to account for the postshock plasma temperatures inferred from spectral fits. This suggests that the X-ray emission comes from gas that has been shocked twice, first by the blast wave and again by shocks reflected from the inner ring of SNR 1987A. A new model that takes these considerations into account gives support to this physical picture.
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U2 - 10.1088/0004-637X/692/2/1190
DO - 10.1088/0004-637X/692/2/1190
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84876800088
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 692
SP - 1190
EP - 1204
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 2
ER -