Title: Cosmic-Ray Acceleration in SN1006: Synchrotron Radiation and Nonthermal Bremsstrahlung in Hard X-Rays
Proposal ID: 0120133
Subject category: Others
Principal investigator: Reynolds
Institute: North Carolina State University
Abstract
We propose a 900 ksec observation of the remnant of the supernova of 1006 AD, the Rosetta Stone
object for
the study of electron acceleration to very high energies. The combination of IBIS and Jem-X
spatial and
spectral coverage should allow testing of the hyposthesis that the emission above 3 keV
is dominantly
synchrotron, and should either detect, or put limits on, a contribution from nonthermal
bremsstrahlung. The
angular diameter of SN 1006, 30', is large enough that IBIS will have sufficient
spatial resolution to
perform a simple discrimination on the highest-energy detectable hard X-rays:
synchrotron emission should
come from two opposing limbs, while bremsstrahlung should have a
more uniform ring morphology. Jem-X will
resolve SN 1006 with about 10 beams across its diameter,
ample to search for a bremsstrahlung contribution
and comparable to ASCA resolution at thermal
X-ray energies. The energy range of 5 to 50 keV shows the
lowest-energy suprathermal cosmic-ray
electrons, through bremsstrahlung, and the highest-energy electrons,
through synchrotron radiation.
Quantitative inferences from detections or limits can include the efficiency
of shock acceleration of
electrons, the maximum energies to which electrons can be accelerated, and indirect
constraints
on the mean remnant magnetic field strength. INTEGRAL can make a major contribution to
the
understanding of nonthermal emission from this important object, and through it, to the understanding
acceleration of particles at shocks anywhere in astrophysics.