X-Ray-emitting Ejecta in Puppis A Observed with Suzaku

Abstract

We report the detection and localization of X-ray-emitting ejecta in the middle-aged Galactic supernova remnant Puppis A using five observations with the Suzaku X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer to survey the eastern and middle portions of the remnant. A roughly 3' × 5', double-peaked region in the north center is found to be highly enriched in Si and other elements relative to the rest of the remnant. The X-ray-fitted abundances are otherwise well below the solar values. While the ejecta-enhanced regions show some variation of relative element abundances, there is little evidence for a very strong enhancement of one element over the others in the imaged portion of the remnant, except possibly for a region of O and Ne enhancement in the remnant's south center. There is no general spatial correlation between the compact [O III]-emitting ejecta knots seen optically and the abundance enhancements seen in X-rays, although they are located in the same vicinity. The map of fitted column density shows strong variations across the remnant that echo earlier X-ray spectral hardness maps. The ionization age (as fitted for single-temperature models) is sharply higher in a ridge behind the northeast-east boundary of the remnant, and is probably related to the strong molecular cloud interaction along that boundary. The temperature map, by comparison, shows relatively weak variations.