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arXiv · 1712.09024

Discovery of 6.4 keV line and soft X-ray emissions from G323.7$-$1.0 with Suzaku

Shigetaka Saji·Hironori Matsumoto·Masayoshi Nobukawa·Kumiko K. Nobukaw·Hideki Uchiyama·Shigeo Yamauchi·Katsuji Koyama
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Abstract

In this paper, the Suzaku X-ray data of the Galactic Supernova Remnant (SNR) candidate G323.7$-$1.0 are analyzed to search for X-ray emission. Spatially-extended enhancements in the 6.4 keV line and in soft X-rays are found inside or on the radio shell. The soft X-ray enhancement would be the hottest part of the shell-like X-ray emission along the radio shell. The 6.4 keV line enhancement is detected at a significance level of $4.1 σ$. The lower limit of the equivalent width (EW) is 1.2 keV. The energy centroid of the 6.4 keV line is $6.40 \pm 0.04$ keV, indicating that the iron is less ionized than the Ne-like state. If the 6.4 keV line originates from ionizing non-equilibrium thermal plasma, presence of iron-rich ejecta in a low-ionization state is required, which is disfavored by the relatively old age of the SNR. The 6.4 keV line enhancement would be due to K-shell ionization of iron atoms in a dense interstellar medium by high-energy particles. Since there is no irradiating X-ray source, the origin of the 6.4 keV line enhancement is not likely the photoionization. The large EW can only be explained by K-shell ionization due to cosmic-ray protons with an energy of $\sim 10$ MeV, which might be generated by the shock acceleration in G323.7$-$1.0.

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Shigetaka Saji, Hironori Matsumoto, Masayoshi Nobukawa, Kumiko K. Nobukaw, Hideki Uchiyama, Shigeo Yamauchi, Katsuji Koyama. 2017-12-25. Discovery of 6.4 keV line and soft X-ray emissions from G323.7$-$1.0 with Suzaku. https://doi.org/10.1093/pasj%2Fpsx158

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