Unbiased Spectroscopic Study of the Cygnus Loop with LAMOST. I. Optical Properties of Emission Lines and the Global Spectrum

Abstract

We present an unbiased spectroscopic study of the Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) Cygnus Loop using the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) DR5. LAMOST features both a large field of view and a large aperture, which allow us to simultaneously obtain 4000 spectra at ∼3700–9000 Å with R ≈ 1800. The Cygnus Loop is a prototype of middle-aged SNRs, which has the advantages of being bright, large in angular size, and relatively unobscured by dust. Along the line of sight to the Cygnus Loop, 2747 LAMOST DR5 spectra are found in total, which are spatially distributed over the entire remnant. This spectral sample is free of the selection bias of most previous studies, which often focus on bright filaments or regions bright in [O iii]. Visual inspection verifies that 368 spectra (13% of the total) show clear spectral features to confirm their association with the remnant. In addition, 176 spectra with line emission show ambiguity of their origin but have a possible association to the SNR. In particular, the 154 spectra dominated by the SNR emission are further analyzed by identifying emission lines and measuring their intensities. We examine distributions of physical properties such as electron density and temperature, which vary significantly inside the remnant, using theoretical models. By combining a large number of the LAMOST spectra, a global spectrum representing the Cygnus Loop is constructed, which presents characteristics of radiative shocks. Finally, we discuss the effect of the unbiased spectral sample on the global spectrum and its implication to understand a spatially unresolved SNR in a distant galaxy.