Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· arXiv e-print (arXiv:astro-ph/0107540)
· On-line Data
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (52) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· SIMBAD Objects (2)
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
· HEP/Spires Information
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
X-Ray Synchrotron Emission from 10-100 TeV Cosmic-Ray Electrons in the Supernova Remnant SN 1006
Authors:
Allen, G. E.; Petre, R.; Gotthelf, E. V.
Affiliation:
AA(MIT Center for Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, NE 80-6029, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307), AB(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771), AC(Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, Pupin Hall, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 558, Issue 2, pp. 739-752. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
09/2001
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Acceleration of Particles, ISM: Cosmic Rays, ISM: individual (SN 1006), Radiation Mechanisms: Nonthermal, ISM: Supernova Remnants, X-Rays: General
DOI:
10.1086/322470
Bibliographic Code:
2001ApJ...558..739A

Abstract

We present the results of a joint spectral analysis of RXTE PCA, ASCA SIS, and ROSAT PSPC data of the supernova remnant SN 1006. This work represents the first attempt to model both the thermal and nonthermal X-ray emission over the entire X-ray energy band from 0.12 to 17 keV. The thermal flux is described by a nonequilibrium ionization model with an electron temperature kTe=0.6 keV, an ionization timescale n0t=9×109 cm-3 s, and a relative elemental abundance of silicon that is 10-18 times larger than the solar abundance. The nonthermal X-ray spectrum is described by a broken power law model with low- and high-energy photon indices Γ1=2.1 and Γ2=3.0, respectively. Since the nonthermal X-ray spectrum steepens with increasing energy, the results of the present analysis corroborate previous claims that the nonthermal X-ray emission is produced by synchrotron radiation. We argue that the magnetic field strength is significantly larger than previous estimates of about 10 μG and arbitrarily use a value of 40 μG to estimate the parameters of the cosmic-ray electron, proton, and helium spectra of the remnant. The results for the ratio of the number densities of protons and electrons (R=160 at 1 GeV), the total energy in cosmic rays (Ecr=1×1050 ergs), and the spectral index of the electrons at 1 GeV (Γe=2.14+/-0.12) are consistent with the hypothesis that Galactic cosmic rays are accelerated predominantly in the shocks of supernova remnants. Yet, the remnant may or may not accelerate nuclei to energies as high as the energy of the ``knee,'' depending on the reason why the maximum energy of the electrons is only 10 TeV.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
   

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Keywords (in text query field)
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints