TY - JOUR
T1 - The origin of the X-ray-emitting plasma in the eastern edge of the Cygnus Loop
AU - Miceli, Marco
AU - Chen, Yang
AU - Zhou, Xin
AU - Bocchino, Fabrizio
AU - Orlando, Salvatore
AU - Chen, Yang
AU - Miceli, Marco
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - The Cygnus Loop is interacting with a protrusion of the cavity wall in its eastern edge (the XA region), where the X-ray emission is very bright. The complexity of the environment and the non-linear physical processes of the shock–cloud interaction make the origin of the X-ray emission still not well understood. Our purpose is to understand the physical origin of the X-ray emission in the XA region, addressing, in particular, the role of thermal conduction in the interaction process. We analysed two XMM–Newton data sets, performing image analysis and spatially resolved spectral analysis on a set of homogeneous regions. We applied a recently developed diagnostic tool to compare spectral analysis results with predictions of theoretical models, and to estimate the efficiency of thermal conduction on the X-ray-emitting shocked plasma. We found that the inhomogeneous cavity wall contains both large clumps (the protrusion) and small isolated clumps with different densities. A large indentation bent over to the south is detected. The abundance of the surrounding interstellar medium is ∼0.2 times solar value. We confirmed the important role of thermal conduction in the evolution of X-ray-emitting plasma during shock–cloud interaction.
AB - The Cygnus Loop is interacting with a protrusion of the cavity wall in its eastern edge (the XA region), where the X-ray emission is very bright. The complexity of the environment and the non-linear physical processes of the shock–cloud interaction make the origin of the X-ray emission still not well understood. Our purpose is to understand the physical origin of the X-ray emission in the XA region, addressing, in particular, the role of thermal conduction in the interaction process. We analysed two XMM–Newton data sets, performing image analysis and spatially resolved spectral analysis on a set of homogeneous regions. We applied a recently developed diagnostic tool to compare spectral analysis results with predictions of theoretical models, and to estimate the efficiency of thermal conduction on the X-ray-emitting shocked plasma. We found that the inhomogeneous cavity wall contains both large clumps (the protrusion) and small isolated clumps with different densities. A large indentation bent over to the south is detected. The abundance of the surrounding interstellar medium is ∼0.2 times solar value. We confirmed the important role of thermal conduction in the evolution of X-ray-emitting plasma during shock–cloud interaction.
KW - ISM: clouds
KW - ISM: individual objects: Cygnus Loop
KW - ISM: individual objects: G74.0-8.5
KW - ISM: supernova remnants
KW - X-rays: ISM
KW - ISM: clouds
KW - ISM: individual objects: Cygnus Loop
KW - ISM: individual objects: G74.0-8.5
KW - ISM: supernova remnants
KW - X-rays: ISM
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10447/57878
M3 - Article
VL - 406
SP - 223
EP - 229
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
SN - 0035-8711
ER -