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R. Shelton (JHU), K. D. Kuntz (UMBC), R. Petre (NASA's GSFC)
W44 is the archetypical ``thermal composite'' or ``mixed morphology'' supernova remnant, with a bright shell of radio synchrotron emission, and a bright center of thermal X-ray emission. The center is more X-ray luminous and the interior is more isothermal than expected from Sedov-Taylor models, prompting several theories about supernova remnant evolution and plasma physics. In order to constrain these theories and to examine W44's pulsar nebula, the remnant was observed with Chandra. The ACIS-S strip was placed along the long direction of the remnant, observing both edges, the interior, and the pulsar's synchrotron nebula. The images reveal small scale structure, but the bright regions are too large and few to suggest mass loading by the evaporation of embedded clouds. The hardness of the spectra varies little across the SNR, as expected from the earlier ROSAT observations. Here we present preliminary spatial and spectral studies of the remnant and discuss their implications for the physical processes taking place within the remnant.
This work is supported by a grant from the Chandra Science Center.