ROSAT / ASCA Observations of the Mixed‐Morphology Supernova Remnant W28

Abstract

We present ROSAT PSPC and ASCA observations of the supernova remnant (SNR) W28. The overall shape of X-ray emission in W28 is elliptical, dominated by a centrally-concentrated interior emission, sharply peaked at the center. The ASCA spectra reveal emission lines of Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe K$\alpha$ and continuum extending at least up to 7 keV, showing thermal origin with a hot thermal component. We found that spectral variations are present in W28. The southwestern shell can be fit well by a plane-shock model with a temperature of 1.5 keV, and the northeastern shell, with a lower temperature of 0.56 keV. Unlike for the southwestern and northeastern shells, the central emission requires a two-temperature components with 0.6 keV and 1.8 keV. The low temperature component is similar to those seen in other Mixed-morphology SNRs. The X-ray luminosity of W28 is 6x 10^34 ergs/s, and the estimated X-ray mass is only ~20 - 25 solar mass. A comparison of W28 with other typical Mixed-morphology SNRs reveals significant differences in its X-ray properties; W28 has a significantly higher temperature and noticeable spectral variations. W28 belongs to a class of SNRs considered by Chevalier (1999), with a radiative shell interacting with clumpy molecular clouds. X-ray emission at its center is a ``fossil'' radiation from gas which was shocked early in the evolution of the remnant, and its centrally-peaked morphology could have been caused by processes such as evaporation, electron thermal conduction, and mixing induced by various hydrodynamical instabilities. But W28 poses a challenge for existing models of X-ray emission, because the evaporation model of White & Long (1991) is in conflict with observations, while the presence of temperature variations seems inconsistent with SNR models with efficient thermal conduction.