Discovery of a New Supernova Remnant in the Direction of G69.7+1.0

Abstract

We discovered a middle-aged supernova remnant (SNR) in the vicinity of G69.7+1.0 using the ASCA satellite. G69.7+1.0 was identified in the 2.7 GHz survey and classified as a shell-type SNR with a diameter of 16 arcmin. During the ROSAT all-sky survey, the X-ray emission was detected in the direction of G69.7+1.0. However, it extends beyond the radio shell, and an X-ray bright region was located outside of the radio shell. A spectral study with the ASCA and ROSAT shows a thin thermal plasma with an electron temperature of ~0.4 keV. There is no significant variation of the spectral parameters over the field of view, except for the lower column density of the eastern part. We also found a large shell structure which surrounds the X-ray bright region in both optical and radio images. We suggest that the observed X-ray emission is associated with the large optical and radio shell, and that they are part of a new SNR, different from the radio SNR G69.7+1.0, which we have named AX J2001+3235 or G69.4+1.2. The large shell and the electron temperature of ~0.4 keV indicate that AX J2001+3235 is an evolved SNR. From a comparison with the column density of CTB 80 (G69.0+2.7), we estimate that the distance of the SNR is about 2.5 kpc.