X-ray spectroscopy of supernova remnants

The information which can be obtained from X-ray spectroscopy of supernova remnants is considerd. The fitting of X-ray detector counts to models of the incident spectrum is discussed, and the types of thermal emission models generally employed are presented, including the power law, black body, and thermal bremsstrahlung models of the continua and models of the emission of a hot, optically thin plasma in collisional equilibrium. Observations of 12 supernova remnants made with the Solid State Spectrometer on board the Einstein Observatory are reported, and metal abundances inferred from the lines of the eight remnants showing thermal spectra are summarized. Questions raised by the failure to observe the overabundance of Fe predicted by stellar evolution and hydrodynamic modeling are discussed, and the need to develop more detailed models of the conditions in a supernova remnant in order to interpret the X-ray spectra is noted.