THE REFINED SHOCK VELOCITY OF THE X-RAY FILAMENTS IN THE RCW 86 NORTHEAST RIM

Abstract

A precise measurement of shock velocities is crucial for constraining the mechanism and efficiency of cosmic-ray (CR) acceleration at supernova remnant (SNR) shock fronts. The northeastern rim of the SNR RCW 86 is thought to be a particularly efficient CR acceleration site, owing to the recent result in which an extremely high shock velocity of ∼6000 km s −1 was claimed. Here, we revisit the same SNR rim with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, 11 years after the first observation. This longer baseline than previously available allows us to determine a more accurate proper motion of the nonthermal X-ray filament, revealing a much lower velocity of 3000 ± 340 km s −1 (and even slower at a brighter region). Although the value has dropped to one-half of that from the previous X-ray measurement, it is still higher than the mean velocity of the H α filaments in this region (∼1200 km s −1 ). This discrepancy implies that the filaments bright in nonthermal X-rays and H α emission trace different velocity components, and thus a CR pressure constrained by combining the X-ray kinematics and the H α spectroscopy can easily be overestimated. We also measure the proper motion of the thermal X-ray filament immediately to the south of the nonthermal one. The inferred velocity (720 ± 360 km s −1 ) is significantly lower than that of the nonthermal filament, suggesting the presence of denser ambient material, possibly a wall formed by a wind from the progenitor, which has drastically slowed down the shock.