Dissecting the X-ray Emission in the Young Planetary Nebula NGC 7027

Abstract

We present analysis of a second observation of the young planetary nebula (PN) NGC 7027 by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This latest 59.2 ks exposure with ACIS-S was acquired approximately 14 years after the initial 18.2 ks ACIS-S observation, and the improved photon statistics allow us to perform a detailed spatial and spectral analysis of the X-ray emission. Comparison with multiwavelength imaging of NGC 7027 reveals a strong anti-correlation between extinction across the nebula and the soft band X-ray emission. Dissecting the X-ray emission into low- and high-extinction regions results in more robust characterization of the plasma spectral properties. We determine that the X-ray emitting plasma has a temperature of $\sim 3.6$ MK, is deficient in Fe, and has an X-ray luminosity of $L_{\mathrm{X}}\sim 7\times 10^{31}{\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, all of which are generally consistent with the plasma properties found in PN hot bubbles. We find no evidence of evolution in the X-ray surface brightness over the 14 year baseline between Chandra observations. Our analysis underscores the importance of accounting for nebular absorption of the X-ray emission in accurately determining plasma properties for hot bubbles within PNe.

8 pages, 5 figures, and a handful of X-ray photons

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Cited by in corpus (6)

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• The post-common-envelope X-ray binary nucleus of the planetary nebula NGC 2392
• Mapping NGC 7027 in New Light: CO${}^{+}$ and HCO${}^{+}$ Emission Reveal Its Photon- and X-ray-Dominated Regions
• Current Unsolved Problems in Planetary Nebulae Research
• Deep survey of millimeter RRLs towards the planetary nebulae IC 418 and NGC 7027
• [Fe II] 1.644$\mu$m imaging survey of planetary nebulae with low-ionisation structures