Paul P. Plucinsky

Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

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Co-Authors

T. J. Gaetz

Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

100

William P. Blair

Johns Hopkins University

Knox S. Long

Space Telescope Science Institute

Benjamin F. Williams

University of Washington

M. Sasaki

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

R. J. Edgar

Anderson Orthopaedic Clinic

P. F. Winkler

Middlebury College

Patrick Slane

Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

K. D. Küntz

Johns Hopkins University

F. Haberl

Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

Cooperative Institutions

Goddard Space Flight Center

277

Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

204

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

192

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science

164

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Harvard University

University of Maryland, College Park

Saitama University

Max Planck Society

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Astro2020 Science White Paper: Future X-ray Studies of Supernova Remnants

arXiv (Cornell University) (2019)

Brian J. Williams Katie Auchettl Carles Badenes Daniel Castro Oleg Kargaltsev

This is a white paper submitted in response to the call from the Astro2020 Decadal Survey Committee. We outline the scientific progress that will be made in the next few decades in the study of supernova remnants in the X-ray band, using observatories like Athena, Lynx, and AXIS.

White (mutation)

White paper

Near-Earth supernova

10.48550/arxiv.1904.05857

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Citations (1)

Verifying the low-energy spectral response models of the CXO ACIS CCDs and the XMM-Newton EPIC CCDs

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE (2006)

Paul P. Plucinsky Joseph DePasquale S. L. Snowden

The flight calibration of the spectral response of CCD instruments below 1.5 keV is difficult in general because of the lack of strong lines in the on-board calibration sources typically used and the relatively poor spectral resolution at the lowest energies. We used 1E 0102.2-7219 (the brightest supernova remnant in the SMC) to evaluate the response models of the ACIS CCDs on the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the EPIC CCDs on the XMM-Newton Observatory. E0102 has strong lines of O, Ne, and Mg below 1.5 keV and very little or no Fe emission to complicate the spectrum. The spectrum of E0102 has been well-characterized using the gratings on the CXO and XMM-Newton. We have used the high-resolution spectral data from both gratings instruments to develop a spectral model for the CCD spectra. Fits with this model are sensitive to any problems with the gain calibration and the spectral redistribution model. We have also used the measured intensities of the lines to investigate the consistency of the detection efficiency models for the different instruments. We find that the gain of the three instruments is accurate to within 1.1% at ~ 570 eV and 0.9% at ~ 910 eV. We find that the measured flux of the Ne X Ly α line agrees at the 90% confidence limit for all detectors (within 6%). We find significant differences in the measured flux of the O VIII Ly α line, the largest discrepancy between one pair of datasets is 18%. Further analysis is required to investigate this discrepancy.

Acis

Spectral resolution

Line (geometry)

10.1117/12.671653

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Summary of the 12th IACHEC Meeting

arXiv (Cornell University) (2017)

Karl Förster Catherine E. Grant M. Guainazzi V. Kashyap Herman L. Marshall

We summarize the outcome of the 12th meeting of the International Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration (IACHEC), held at the UCLA conference center in Lake Arrowhead (California) in March 2017. 56 scientists directly involved in the calibration of operational and future high-energy missions gathered during 3.5 days to discuss the status of the X-ray payload inter-calibration, as well as possible ways to improve it. The Thermal Supernovas Remnant (SNR) Working Group presented a recently published paper on 1E0102.2-7219 as a calibration standard in the 0.5-1.0 keV band. A new method to measure the high-energy spectrum of the Crab Nebula and pulsar with NuSTAR without using its optics may yield a new absolute flux standard in the 3-7 keV band. A new ACIS contamination model - released with CALDB version 4.7.3 - leads to a significant improvement in modeling the spectral, spatial, and temporal properties of the contaminant. The first calibration results of the scientific payload on board Hitomi confirm the excellent performance of the instruments before the spacecraft operation problems leading to its loss. Finally, the meeting discussed extensively a novel statistic approach to formally identify in which direction the effective areas of different instruments would need to be changed to bring them into concordance. This method could inform future further calibration efforts.

Payload (computing)

Crab Nebula

Acis

Source

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Nonthermal X‐Ray Emission from the Shell‐Type Supernova Remnant G347.3−0.5

The Astrophysical Journal (1999)

Patrick Slane B. M. Gaensler T. M. Dame John P. Hughes Paul P. Plucinsky

Recent ASCA observations of G347.3-0.5, a supernova remnant (SNR) discovered in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey, reveal nonthermal emission from a region along the northwestern shell. Here we report on new pointed ASCA observations of G347.3-0.5 that confirm this result for all the bright shell regions and also reveal similar emission, although with slightly different spectral properties, from the remainder of the SNR. Curiously, no thermal X-ray emission is detected anywhere in the remnant. We derive limits on the amount of thermal emitting material present in G347.3-0.5 and present new radio continuum, CO, and infrared results that indicate that the remnant is distant and of moderate age. We show that our observations are broadly consistent with a scenario that has most of the supernova remnant shock wave still within the stellar wind bubble of its progenitor star, while part of it appears to be interacting with denser material. A point source at the center of the remnant has spectral properties similar to those expected for a neutron star and may represent the compact relic of the supernova progenitor.

ROSAT

Near-Earth supernova

Point source

10.1086/307893

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Citations (229)

The Monogem Ring: A Nearby SNR Similar to the Local Bubble ?

AIP conference proceedings (2009)

Paul P. Plucinsky Randall K. Smith S. L. Snowden K. D. Kuntz

The “Monogem Ring” is a large (D∼25.0°), old (t∼1.0×105 yr) supernova remnant (SNR) located above the Galactic plane close to the anti‐center direction. The Monogem Ring (MR) has a very soft X‐ray spectrum and is one of the most prominent features in the ROSAT All‐Sky Survey R1+R2 Band (100–284 eV) map. The MR has been associated with the pulsar PSR 0656+14, which has a well‐constrained distance from parallax measurements. Adopting a distance of 300 pc, we have modeled the MR as the remnant of a single SNe with an explosion energy of Eo = 0.2×1051 ergs, an initial ambient density of 5.2×10−3 cm−3, and an age of 8.6×104 yr. Comparison to multiple‐SNe models of the Local Bubble indicate that the MR is a younger, less energetic explosion which went off in a lower density medium. We also present the first Suzaku spectrum of the MR ring which is consistent with a low‐temperature (kT = 0.20 keV) plasma close to ionization equilibrium with a sub‐solar O abundance.

ROSAT

Galactic plane

Near-Earth supernova

Local Bubble

10.1063/1.3211819

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Twenty-Four Years of Radiation Protection of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets (2024)

S. J. Wolk Thomas L. Aldcroft Paul P. Plucinsky D. A. Schwartz Stephen L. O’Dell

This paper discusses the challenges and successes of radiation monitoring for the Chandra X-ray Observatory (Chandra). Now in operation for over 24 years, Chandra was originally designed with minimal concern for its space environment. However, just weeks into the mission, it was discovered that the charge-coupled devices on its primary detector were more vulnerable to radiation damage from low-energy (100–200 keV) protons than expected due to the ability of the Chandra mirrors to focus such protons. Its highly elliptical orbit, with a 63.5 h period, regularly takes the spacecraft through the Earth’s radiation belts, the magnetosphere, the magnetosheath, and into the solar wind. Therefore, proper radiation management has been a prime concern of the Chandra team. A comprehensive approach utilizing scheduled radiation safing, in addition to onboard autonomous radiation monitoring, manual intervention, and specific orbital modeling, has proved successful at managing further radiation damage. Owing to the tremendous success and long duration of the mission, there have been a series of challenges in all of these approaches as the orbit has evolved and as the availability of both onboard and independent space-based monitoring has changed.

Space Weather

Orbit (dynamics)

Orbital mechanics

10.2514/1.a36012

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The complicated evolution of the ACIS contamination layer over the mission life of the Chandra X-ray Observatory

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray (2018)

Paul P. Plucinsky Ákos Bogdán Herman L. Marshall Neil W. Tice

The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched almost 19 years ago and has been delivering spectacular science over the course of its mission. The Advanced CCD Imager Spectrometer is the prime instrument on the satellite, conducting over 90% of the observations. The CCDs operate at a temperature of -120 C and the optical blocking filter in front of the CCDs is at a temperature of approximately -60C. The surface of the OBF has accumulated a layer of contamination over the course of the mission. We have been characterizing the thickness, chemical composition, and spatial distribution of the contamination layer as a function of time over the mission. All three have exhibited significant changes with time. There has been a dramatic decrease in the accumulation rate of the contaminant starting in 2017. The lower accumulation rate may be due to a decrease in the deposition rate or an increase in the vaporization rate or a combination of the two. We show that the current calibration file which models the additional absorption of the contamination layer is significantly overestimating that additional absorption by using the standard model spectrum for the supernova remnant 1E 0102.2-7219 developed by the International Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration. In addition, spectral data from the cluster of galaxies known as Abell 1795 and the Blazar Markarian 421 are used to generate a model of the absorption produced by the contamination layer. The Chandra X-ray Center calibration team is preparing a revised calibration file that more accurately represents the complex time dependence of the accumulation rate, the spatial dependence, and the chemical composition of the contaminant. Given the rapid changes in the contamination layer over the past year, future calibration observations at a higher cadence will be necessary to more accurately monitor such changes.

Acis

10.1117/12.2312748

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Citations (10)

Three-Dimensional Kinematic Reconstruction of the Optically-Emitting, High-Velocity, Oxygen-Rich Ejecta of Supernova Remnant N132D

AAS (2020)

D. Milisavljević Charles J. Law Daniel Patnaude Paul P. Plucinsky Michael D. Gladders

Source

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A NEWLY RECOGNIZED VERY YOUNG SUPERNOVA REMNANT IN M83^,^,

The Astrophysical Journal (2015)

William P. Blair P. F. Winkler Knox S. Long Bradley C. Whitmore Hwihyun Kim

As part of a spectroscopic survey of supernova remnant candidates in M83 using the Gemini-South telescope and GMOS, we have discovered one object whose spectrum shows very broad lines at H$\alpha$, [O~I] 6300,6363, and [O~III] 4959,5007, similar to those from other objects classified as `late time supernovae.' Although six historical supernovae have been observed in M83 since 1923, none were seen at the location of this object. Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 images show a nearly unresolved emission source, while Chandra and ATCA data reveal a bright X-ray source and nonthermal radio source at the position. Objects in other galaxies showing similar spectra are only decades post-supernova, which raises the possibility that the supernova that created this object occurred during the last century but was missed. Using photometry of nearby stars from the HST data, we suggest the precursor was at least 17 $\rm M_{sun}$, and the presence of broad H$\alpha$ in the spectrum makes a type II supernova likely. The supernova must predate the 1983 VLA radio detection of the object. We suggest examination of archival images of M83 to search for evidence of the supernova event that gave rise to this object, and thus provide a precise age.

Doubly ionized oxygen

10.1088/0004-637x/800/2/118

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Citations (18)

THE CHANDRA ACIS SURVEY OF M33: X-RAY, OPTICAL, AND RADIO PROPERTIES OF THE SUPERNOVA REMNANTS

The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series (2010)

Knox S. Long William P. Blair P. F. Winkler R. H. Becker T. J. Gaetz

M33 contains a large number of emission nebulae identified as supernova remnants (SNRs) based on the high [S II]:Hα ratios characteristic of shocked gas.Using Chandra data from the ChASeM33 survey with a 0.35-2 keV sensitivity of ∼ 2 × 10 34 ergs s -1 , we have detected 82 of 137 SNR candidates, yielding confirmation of (or at least strongly support for) their SNR identifications.This provides the largest sample of remnants detected at optical and X-ray wavelengths in any galaxy, including the Milky Way.A spectral analysis of the seven X-ray brightest SNRs reveals that two, G98-31 and G98-35, have spectra that

Local Group

Acis

10.1088/0067-0049/187/2/495

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Citations (94)