2012ApJ...754...96K

We present the first detailed imaging and spatially resolved spectroscopic study of the Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) G292.2-0.5, associated with the high-magnetic field radio pulsar (PSR) J1119-6127, using Chandra and XMM-Newton. The high-resolution X-ray images reveal a partially limb-brightened morphology in the west, with diffuse emission concentrated toward the interior of the remnant unlike the complete shell-like morphology observed at radio wavelengths. The spectra of most of the diffuse emission regions within the remnant are best described by a two-component thermal+non-thermal model. The thermal component is described by a plane-parallel, non-equilibrium ionization plasma model with a temperature kT ranging from 1.3^+0.3_–0.2 keV in the western side of the remnant to 2.3^+2.9_–0.5 keV in the east, a column density increasing from 1.0^+0.1_–0.6x10²²/cm2 in the west to 1.8^+0.2 _–0.4x10²²/cm2 in the east, and a low ionization timescale ranging from (5.7^+0.8_–0.7)x10⁹/cm3 s in the SNR interior to (3.6^+0.7 _–0.6)x10¹⁰/cm3 s in the western side–suggestive of expansion of a young remnant in a low-density medium. The spatial and spectral differences across the SNR are consistent with the presence of a dark cloud in the eastern part of the SNR, absorbing the soft X-ray emission, as also revealed by the optical image of that region. The spectra from some of the regions also show slightly enhanced metal abundances from Ne, Mg, and Si, hinting at the first evidence for ejecta heated by the reverse shock. Comparing our inferred metal abundances to core-collapse nucleosynthesis models yields, we estimate a high progenitor mass of ∼30 M_☉ suggesting a Type Ib/c supernova. We confirm the presence of non-thermal X-ray emission from regions close to the pulsar, with the emission characterized by a power-law model with a hard photon index similar to that seen in the compact pulsar wind nebula. We estimate an SNR age range between 4.2 kyr (free expansion phase) and 7.1 kyr (Sedov phase) at an assumed distance of 8.4 kpc, a factor of a few higher than the measured pulsar's age upper limit of 1.9 kyr.