Multi-Year X-ray Variations of Iron-K and Continuum Emissions in the Young Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

Abstract

We found simultaneous decrease of Fe-K line and 4.2-6 keV continuum of Cassiopeia A with the monitoring data taken by Chandra in 2000-2013. The flux change rates in the whole remnant are $-$0.65$\pm$0.02 \% yr${}^{-1}$ in the 4.2--6.0 keV continuum and $-$0.6$\pm$0.1 \% yr${}^{-1}$ in the Fe-K. In the eastern region where the thermal emission is considered to dominate, the variations show the largest values: $-$1.03$\pm$0.05 \% yr${}^{-1}$ (4.2-6 keV band) and $-$0.6$\pm$0.1 \% yr${}^{-1}$ (Fe-K line). In this region, the time evolution of the emission measure and the temperature have a decreasing trend. This could be interpreted as the adiabatic cooling with the expansion of $m=0.66$. On the other hand, in the non-thermal emission dominated regions, the variations of the 4.2--6 keV continuum show the smaller rates: $-$0.60$\pm$0.04 \% yr${}^{-1}$ in the southwestern region, $-$0.46$\pm$0.05 \% yr${}^{-1}$ in the inner region and $+$0.00$\pm$0.07 \% yr${}^{-1}$ in the forward shock region. In particular, the flux does not show significant change in the forward shock region. These results imply that a strong braking in the shock velocity has not been occurring in Cassiopeia A ($<$ 5 km s${}^{-1}$ yr${}^{-1}$). All of our results support that the X-ray flux decay in the remnant is mainly caused by the thermal components.

13 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ