A Multi-Wavelength Study of the Western Lobe of W50 Powered by the Galactic Microquasar SS 433

W50 remains the only supernova remnant (SNR) confirmed to harbor a microquasar: the powerful enigmatic source SS 433. Our past study of this fascinating SNR revealed two X-ray lobes distorting the radio shell as well as non-thermal X-rays at the site of interaction between the SS 433 eastern jet and the eastern lobe of W50. In this paper we present the results of a 75 ksec CHANDRA ACIS-I observation of the peak of W50-west targeted to 1) determine the nature of the X-ray emission and 2) correlate the X-ray emission with that in the radio and infrared domains. We have confirmed that at the site of interaction between the western jet of SS 433 and dense interstellar gas the X-ray emission is non-thermal in nature. The helical pattern observed in radio is also seen with CHANDRA. No correlation was found between the infrared and X-ray emission.Comment: A refereed publication, submitted Sept. 30, 2004, accepted Jan. 12, 2005, to appear in Advances in Space Research. 7 pages, including 4 figures (3 color) & 1 table (the resolution of most figures has been reduced for astro-ph submission only). A gzipped postscript or pdf version of the paper with high-resolution images can be downloaded from: http://aurora.physics.umanitoba.ca/~moldowan/Astro-Ph

The molecular clump towards the eastern border of SNR G18.8+0.3

The eastern border of the SNR G18.8+0.3, close to an HII regions complex, is a very interesting region to study the molecular gas that it is probably in contact with the SNR shock front. We observed the aforementioned region using the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE) in the 12CO J=3-2, 13CO J=3-2, HCO+ J=4-3, and CS J=7-6 lines with an angular resolution of 22". To complement these observations, we analyzed IR, submillimeter and radio continuum archival data. In this work, we clearly show that the radio continuum "protrusion" that was early thought to belong to the SNR is an HII regions complex deeply embedded in a molecular clump. The new molecular observations reveal that this dense clump, belonging to an extended molecular cloud that surrounds the SNR southeast border, is not physically in contact with SNR G18.8+0.3, suggesting that the SNR shock front have not yet reached it or maybe they are located at different distances. We found some young stellar objects embedded in the molecular clump, suggesting that their formation should be approximately coeval with the SN explosion.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A (Sept. 7, 2012

Radio and X-ray images of SNR G18.8+0.3 interacting with molecular clouds

New HI images from the VLA Galactic Plane Survey (VGPS) show clear absorption features associated with the supernova remnant (SNR) G18.8+0.3. High-resolution $^{13}$CO images reveal that molecular clouds overlap the radio filaments of G18.8+0.3. The $^{13}$CO emission spectrum over the full velocity range in the direction of G18.8+0.3 shows two molecular components with high brightness-temperatureand three molecular components with low brightness-temperature, all with respective HI absorption. This implies that these clouds are in front of G18.8+0.3. In the HI images, the highest velocity absorption feature seen against the continuum image of G18.8+0.3 is at 129 km s$^{-1}$, which corresponds to the tangent point in this direction. This yields a lower distance limit of 6.9 kpc for G18.8+0.3. Absence of absorption at negative velocities gives an upper distance limit of 15 kpc. The broadened profile at 20$\pm$5 km s$^{-1}$ in the $^{13}$CO emission spectra is a strong indicator of a possible SNR/CO cloud interaction. Thus, G18.8+0.3 is likely to be at the distance of about 12 kpc. The upper mass limit and mean density of the giant CO cloud at 20$\pm$5 km s$^{-1}$ are \sim 6 \times 10^{5} M_{\odot} and \sim 2 \times 10^{2} cm^{-3}. We find an atomic hydrogen column density in front of G18.8+0.3 of $N_{HI}$ \sim 2 \times 10^{22} cm^{-2}. The ROSAT PSPC observations show a diffuse X-ray enhancement apparently associated with part of the radio shell of G18.8+0.3. Assuming an association, the unabsorbed flux is 2.2 \times10^{-12} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}, suggesting an intrinsic luminosity of 3.6 \times 10^{34} erg s^{-1} for G18.8+0.3.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, two tables, accepted by A&

The neutral gas in the environs of the Geminga gamma-ray pulsar

We present a high-resolution (24 arcsec) study of the HI interstellar gas distribution around the radio-quiet neutron star Geminga. Based on Very Large Array (VLA) and MPIfR Effelsberg telescope data, we analyzed a 40' x 40' field around Geminga. These observations have revealed the presence of a neutral gas shell, 0.4 pc in radius, with an associated HI mass of 0.8 Msun, which surrounds Geminga at a radial velocity compatible with the kinematical distance of the neutron star. In addition, morphological agreement is observed between the internal face of the HI shell and the brightest structure of Geminga's tail observed in X-rays.We explore the possibility that this morphological agreement is the result of a physical association.Comment: One tarfile including a Latex file (7 pages) and two figures. Paper accepted for publication in Advances in Space Research; typos corrected; changes in section Results and Discussion after referee's suggestions. S. Johnston's affilation correcte

Chandra X-ray Observation of a Mature Cloud-Shock Interaction in the Bright Eastern Knot Region of Puppis A

We present Chandra X-ray images and spectra of the most prominent cloud-shock interaction region in the Puppis A supernova remnant. The Bright Eastern Knot (BEK) has two main morphological components: (1) a bright compact knot that lies directly behind the apex of an indentation in the eastern X-ray boundary and (2) lying 1' westward behind the shock, a curved vertical structure (bar) that is separated from a smaller bright cloud (cap) by faint diffuse emission. Based on hardness images and spectra, we identify the bar and cap as a single shocked interstellar cloud. Its morphology strongly resembles the ``voided sphere'' structures seen at late times in Klein et al.'s experimental simulations of cloud-shock interactions, when the crushing of the cloud by shear instabilities is well underway. We infer an interaction time of roughly 3 cloud-crushing timescales, which translates to 2000-4000 years, based on the X-ray temperature, physical size, and estimated expansion of the shocked cloud. This is the first X-ray identified example of a cloud-shock interaction in this advanced phase. Closer to the shock front, the X-ray emission of the compact knot in the eastern part of the BEK region implies a recent interaction with relatively denser gas, some of which lies in front of the remnant. The complex spatial relationship of the X-ray emission of the compact knot to optical [O III] emission suggests that there are multiple cloud interactions occurring along the line of sight.Comment: 22 pages LaTeX with multiple figures, to appear in Ap

XMM-Newton observations of the supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946 and its central source

We present new results from the observations of the supernova remnant (SNR) RX J1713.7–3946 (also G347.3–0.5) performed in five distinct pointings with the EPIC instrument on board the satellite XMM-Newton. RX J1713.7–3946 is a shelltype SNR dominated by synchrotron radiation in the X-rays. Its emission (emission measure and photon index) as well as the absorption along the line-of-sight has been characterized over the entire SNR. The X-ray mapping of the absorbing column density has revealed strong well-constrained variations (0.4 × 1022 cm−2 ≤ NH ≤ 1.1 × 1022 cm−2) and, particularly, a strong absorption in the southwest. Moreover, there are several clues indicating that the shock front of RX J1713.7–3946 is impacting the clouds responsible for the absorption as revealed for instance by the positive correlation between X-ray absorption and X-ray brightness along the western rims. The CO and H observations show that the inferred cumulative absorbing column densities are in excellent agreement with the X-ray findings in different parts of the remnant on condition that the SNR lies at a distance of 1.3 ± 0.4 kpc, probably in the Sagittarius galactic arm, instead of the commonly-accepted value of 6 kpc. An excess in the CO emission is found in the southwest suggesting that the absorption is due to molecular clouds. A search for OH masers in the southwestern region has been unsuccessful, possibly due to the low density of the clouds. The X-ray mapping of the photon index has also revealed strong variations (1.8 ≤ Γ ≤ 2.6). The spectrum is steep in the faint central regions and flat at the presumed shock locations, particularly in the southeast. Nevertheless, the regions where the shock impacts molecular clouds have a steeper spectrum than those where the shock propagates into a low density medium. The search for the thermal emission in RX J1713.7–3946 has been unsuccessful leading to a number density upper limit of 2 × 10−2 cm−3 in the ambient medium. This low density corresponds to a reasonable kinetic energy of the explosion provided that the remnant is less than a few thousand years old. A scenario based on a modified ambient medium due to the effect of a progenitor stellar wind is proposed and leads to an estimate of RX J1713.7–3946’s progenitor mass between 12 and 16 M. The X-ray bright central point source 1WGA J1713.4–3949 detected at the center of SNR RX J1713.7–3946 shows spectral properties very similar to those of the Compact Central Objects found in SNRs and consistent in terms of absorption with that of the central diffuse X-ray emission arising from the SNR. It is highly probable that the point source 1WGA J1713.4–3949 is the compact relic of RX J1713.7–3946’s supernova progenitor.Fil: Cassam Chenaï, G.. Centre D; FranciaFil: Decourchelle, A.. Centre D; FranciaFil: Ballet, J.;. Centre D; FranciaFil: Sauvageot, J. L.. Centre D; FranciaFil: Dubner, Gloria Mabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Giacani, Elsa Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; Argentin