TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigating the Structure of Vela X
AU - Slane, P.
AU - Lovchinsky, I.
AU - Kolb, C.
AU - Snowden, S. L.
AU - Temim, T.
AU - Blondin, J.
AU - Bocchino, F.
AU - Miceli, M.
AU - Chevalier, R. A.
AU - Hughes, J. P.
AU - Patnaude, D. J.
AU - Gaetz, T.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - Vela X is a prototypical example of a pulsar wind nebula whose morphology and detailed structure have been affected by interaction with the reverse shock of its host supernova remnant. The resulting complex of filamentary structure and mixed-in ejecta embedded in a nebula that is offset from the pulsar provides the best example we have of this middle-age state that characterizes a significant fraction of composite supernova remnants (SNRs), and perhaps all of the large-diameter pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) seen as TeV sources. Here, we report on an XMM-Newton (hereafter XMM) Large Project study of Vela X, supplemented by additional Chandra observations. Through broad spectral modeling, as well as detailed spectral investigations of discrete emission regions, we confirm previous studies that report evidence for ejecta material within Vela X, and show that equivalent-width variations of O vii and O viii are consistent with temperature maps within the PWN that show lowerature regions where the projected SNR emission appears to dominate emission from the ejecta. We identify spectral variations in the nonthermal emission, with hard emission being concentrated near the pulsar. We carry out investigations of the Vela X "cocoon" structure, and with hydrodynamical simulations, show that its overall properties are consistent with structures formed in the late-phase evolution of a composite SNR expanding into a surrounding medium with a density gradient, with ejecta material being swept beyond the pulsar and compressed into an elongated structure in the direction opposite the high external density.
AB - Vela X is a prototypical example of a pulsar wind nebula whose morphology and detailed structure have been affected by interaction with the reverse shock of its host supernova remnant. The resulting complex of filamentary structure and mixed-in ejecta embedded in a nebula that is offset from the pulsar provides the best example we have of this middle-age state that characterizes a significant fraction of composite supernova remnants (SNRs), and perhaps all of the large-diameter pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) seen as TeV sources. Here, we report on an XMM-Newton (hereafter XMM) Large Project study of Vela X, supplemented by additional Chandra observations. Through broad spectral modeling, as well as detailed spectral investigations of discrete emission regions, we confirm previous studies that report evidence for ejecta material within Vela X, and show that equivalent-width variations of O vii and O viii are consistent with temperature maps within the PWN that show lowerature regions where the projected SNR emission appears to dominate emission from the ejecta. We identify spectral variations in the nonthermal emission, with hard emission being concentrated near the pulsar. We carry out investigations of the Vela X "cocoon" structure, and with hydrodynamical simulations, show that its overall properties are consistent with structures formed in the late-phase evolution of a composite SNR expanding into a surrounding medium with a density gradient, with ejecta material being swept beyond the pulsar and compressed into an elongated structure in the direction opposite the high external density.
KW - ISM: individual objects (Vela X)
KW - ISM: supernova remnants
KW - acceleration of particles
KW - shock waves
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U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/aada12
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/aada12
M3 - Article
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 865
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 2
M1 - 86
ER -