X-ray evidence for electron-ion equilibrium and ionization nonequilibrium in young supernova remnants

The A-2 spectroscopy experiment on HEAO 1 detected X-ray emission up to 25 keV from the supernova remnants Cas A and Tycho. The spectra must include continuum components with effective temperature equivalent or 10 to the 8th power K which could arise from optically thin plasmas in the collisionless shock fronts. This is the first indication of electron-ion temperature equilibrium in the expanding shell of young remnants. Measurements of the equivalent widths of the K alpha and K beta iron line blends in Cas A, show that their ratio is not compatible with the measured X-ray temperature in the collisional ionization equilibrium model. The search for hard X-ray pulsars in both remnants was unsuccessful.