Skip to content

Ionization and Velocity Structure in the Supernova Remnant E0102-72

K. A. Flanagan, C. R. Canizares, D. S. Davis, D. Dewey, J. C. Houck, T. H. Markert, M. L. Schattenburg

astro-pharXiv:astro-ph/0105058

Abstract

The High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) Spectrometer aboard the Chandra X-Ray Observatory was used to observe E0102-72, a ~1000 year old, oxygen rich supernova in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The HETG disperses the image of the remnant into a spectrum of images in the light of individual X-ray emission lines. Doppler shifts in the strongest lines of oxygen and neon reveal bulk motions of up to 2000 km/sec with a complex morphology. Comparison of progressive ionization stages of magnesium, neon, oxygen and silicon provide new insights into the mechanism of the `reverse shock' that heats the stellar ejecta.

Create a lesson