Soft X-Ray Source Modeling of the Cygnus Loop & Predicted Observation for The Rocket for Extended-source X-Ray Spectroscopy

open_access
Open Access
Author:
Smedile, Vincent
Area of Honors:
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
James Tutt (He/Him), Thesis Supervisor
Alexander Wolszczan, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
cygnusloop
halosat
supernovaremnants
astrophysics
xmmnewton
rosat
Abstract:
Historically, the Cygnus Loop has been observed in multiple pointings and either large field of view soft X-ray instruments with poor resolution or highly resolved instruments that boast only moderate fields of view of 1 sqaure degree or less. I present both a source model for the Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant (Cygnus Loop SNR) and the potential spectra recorded by the Rocket for Extended-source X-Ray Spectroscopy (tREXS), which is a sounding rocket with experimental optics created at Penn State. Given the expected timescales for the SNR. The source model is a two-temperature Non-equilibrium Ionization model. The model presented has a reduced chi-sqaure of 1.502. Despite an attempt to fit a Non-equilibrium Ionization and Collisional Ionization Equilibrium model, the two-temperature Non-equilibirum Ionization model proved to fit best. The spectra used for this model were taken from a single 3-degree diameter pointing by HaloSat using the SDD38 and SDD54 detectors. The resulting source model was then treated as a source spectra and run through a ray-tracing instrument simulation model of tREXS to determine what the tREXS optic would observe in the field. The instrument model yielded a high-resolution spectrum, particularly around the lower wavelengths, with strong predicted transition lines at O VII, O VIII, N VII, and C VI. The model predicts a high-intensity ratio between O VII and O VIII, as well as depletions for C, N, and O abundances. Cygnus Loop currently has yet to have a soft X-Ray observation that encompasses the full width of the SNR with a single pointing. These models provide new insight into what a full 3-degree diameter field of view observation of Cygnus Loop SNR with tREXS is and bolster predictions for the spectral observations made by the novel passive focuser optic the rocket employs.