We present evidence for cosmic ray acceleration at the forward shock in Tycho's supernova remnant (SNR) from three X-ray observables: (1) the proximity of the contact discontinuity to the forward shock, or blast wave, (2) the morphology of the emission from the rim of Tycho, and (3) the spectral nature of the rim emission. We determine the locations of the blast wave (BW), contact discontinuity (CD), and reverse shock (RS) around the rim of Tycho's supernova remnant using a principal component analysis and other methods applied to new Chandra data. The azimuthal-angle-averaged radius of the BW is 251 ′′ . For the CD and RS we find average radii of 241 ′′ and 183 ′′ , respectively. Taking account of projection effects, we find ratios of 1 : 0.93 : 0.70 (BW : CD : RS). We show these values to be inconsistent with adiabatic hydrodynamical models of SNR evolution. The CD:BW ratio can be explained if cosmic ray acceleration of ions is occurring at the forward shock. The RS:BW ratio, as well as the strong Fe Kα emission from the Tycho ejecta, imply that the RS is not accelerating cosmic rays. We also extract radial profiles from ∼34% of the rim of Tycho and compare them to models of surface brightness profiles behind the BW for a purely thermal plasma with an adiabatic shock. The observed morphology of the rim is much more strongly peaked than predicted by the model, indicating that such thermal -2emission is implausible here. Spectral analysis also implies that the rim emission is non-thermal in nature, lending further support to the idea that Tycho's forward shock is accelerating cosmic rays.
G347.3-0.5 (RX J1713.7-3946) is a member of the new class of shell-type Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) that feature non-thermal components to their X-ray emission. We have analyzed the X-ray spectrum of this SNR over a broad energy range (0.5 to 30 keV) using archived data from observations made with two satellites, the Röntgensatellit (ROSAT ) and the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA), along with data from our own observations made with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE ). Using a combination of the models EQUIL and SRCUT to fit thermal and non-thermal emission, respectively, from this SNR, we find evidence for a modest thermal component to G347.3-0.5's diffuse emission with a corresponding energy of kT ≈ 1.4 keV. We also obtain an estimate of 70 TeV for the maximum energy of the cosmicray electrons that have been accelerated by this SNR.
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