A study of the X-ray characteristics of mixed-morphology supernova remnants with 1720 MHz OH maser emission

Abstract

Radio surveys of supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Galaxy have discovered 19 SNRs which are accompanied by the OH maser emission at 1720 MHz. This unusual maser is thought to be produced behind a shock front when a SNR expands into a molecular cloud. An important ingredient of this model is that the X-ray emission from the remnant enhances the production of OH molecules. In this sense, to study the characteristics of the mixed-morphology SNRs accompanied by the OH maser emission at 1720 MHz is important. By studying the X-ray characteristics of the mixed-morphology SNRs accompanied by the 1720 MHz OH maser emission, it is found that the ionization rate of X-ray is not correlated with the physical parameters ϑ, D, r, r 2 and so on, but is correlated with the X-ray luminosity L x . Meanwhile, L x is closely correlated with the beam flux density of the weakest feature of the accompanying 1720 MHz OH maser emission. These mean that the X-ray emission from SNRs is sufficient to dissociate the water molecules behind a shock front and to produce the 1720 MHz OH masers.