2000MNRAS.319.1154F

We report on multi-epoch X-ray observations of the Type IIn (narrow emission line) Supernova (SN) 1995N with the ROSAT and ASCA satellites. The 1998 January ASCA X-ray spectrum is well fitted by a thermal bremsstrahlung {formmu1} {formmu2} or power-law {formmu3} {formmu4} model. The X-ray light curve shows evidence for significant flux evolution between 1996 August and 1998 January: the count rate from the source decreased by 30per cent between our 1996 August and 1997 August ROSAT observations, and the X-ray luminosity most likely increased by a factor of ∼2 between our 1997 August ROSAT and 1998 January ASCA observations, although evolution of the spectral shape over this interval is not ruled out. The high X-ray luminosity, {formmu5} places SN 1995N in a small group of Type IIn supernovae with strong circumstellar interaction, and the evolving X-ray luminosity suggests that the circumstellar medium is distributed inhomogeneously.