We present a Chandra and XMM-Newton imaging and spectroscopic study of the supernova remnant (SNR) RCW 103 (G332.4-00.4) containing the Central Compact Object 1E 161348-5055. The high resolution Chandra X-ray images reveal enhanced emission in the south-eastern and north-western regions. Equivalent width line images of Fe L, Mg, Si, and S using XMM-Newton data were used to map the distribution of ejecta. The SNR was sectioned into 56 regions best characterized by two-component thermal models. The harder component (kT ∼ 0.6 keV) is adequately fitted by the VPSHOCK non-equilibrium ionization model with an ionization timescale n e t ∼ 10 11 -10 12 cm −3 s, and slightly enhanced abundances over solar values. The soft component (kT ∼ 0.2 keV), fitted by the APEC model, is well described by plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium with abundances consistent with solar values. Assuming a distance of 3.1 kpc and a Sedov phase of expansion into a uniform medium, we estimate an SNR age of 4.4 kyr, a swept-up mass M sw = 16 f −1/2 s D 5/2 3.1 M , and a low explosion energy E * = 3.7 × 10 49 f −1/2 s D 5/2 3.1 erg. This energy could be an order of magnitude higher if we relax the Sedov assumption, the plasma has a low filling factor, the plasma temperature is under-estimated, or if the SNR is expanding into the progenitor's wind-blown bubble. Standard explosion models did not match the ejecta yields. By comparing the fitted abundances to the most recent core-collapse nucleosynthesis models, our best estimate yields a low-mass progenitor around 12-13 M , lower than previously reported. We discuss degeneracies in the model fitting, particularly the effect of altering the explosion energy on the progenitor mass estimate.wave that propagate through the ISM, creating a shell-like structure that emits radiation detectable in the X-ray band. The nucleosynthesis products of supernovae have prominent emission lines in the 0.3-10 keV range, which are referred to as the oxygen-group and intermediate mass elements (O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca) and the iron-group elements (mostly Fe and Ni). Furthermore, the X-ray emission lines provide information about the temperature and ionization state of the hot plasma which can be used to infer the supernova explosion properties.RCW 103 is a young, Galactic shell-type SNR with a hard X-ray point source close to its centre, labelled 1E 161348-5055 (hereafter 1E1613) (Tuohy & Garmire

We present a broadband X-ray study of W50 (the “Manatee” nebula), the complex region powered by the microquasar SS 433, that provides a test bed for several important astrophysical processes. The W50 nebula, a Galactic PeVatron candidate, is classified as a supernova remnant but has an unusual double-lobed morphology likely associated with the jets from SS 433. Using NuSTAR, XMM-Newton, and Chandra observations of the inner eastern lobe of W50, we have detected hard nonthermal X-ray emission up to ∼30 keV, originating from a few-arcminute-sized knotty region (“Head”) located ≲18′ (29 pc for a distance of 5.5 kpc) east of SS 433, and constrained its photon index to 1.58 ± 0.05 (0.5–30 keV band). The index gradually steepens eastward out to the radio “ear” where thermal soft X-ray emission with a temperature kT ∼ 0.2 keV dominates. The hard X-ray knots mark the location of acceleration sites within the jet and require an equipartition magnetic field of the order of ≳12 μG. The unusually hard spectral index from the “Head” region challenges classical particle acceleration processes and points to particle injection and reacceleration in the subrelativistic SS 433 jet, as seen in blazars and pulsar wind nebulae.

No abstract