Spatially Resolved Plasma Diagnostics of the Supernova Remnant DEM L71 using the Reflection Grating Spectrometer

Abstract

We present a spatially resolved high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of the supernova remnant DEM L71 using the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) aboard XMM-Newton. Because of the large dispersion angle of the RGS, we are able to resolve individual emission lines and examine their spatial distributions within this moderately extended remnant. We derive line fluxes across different regions of DEM L71 and perform quantitative plasma diagnostics. Our analysis reveals that some regions have high forbidden-to-resonance ratios of O\emissiontype{VII} He$\alpha$ lines, suggesting a non-negligible contribution from additional physical processes, such as charge exchange and/or resonance scattering. Our results demonstrate that the RGS has potential to serve as an outstanding X-ray imaging spectrometer for moderately diffuse objects.