Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2017
A high resolution X-ray image of Tycho's supernova remnant obtained from the Einstein Observatory reveals three components of X-ray emission that we identify with shocked interstellar material, diffuse ejecta, and clumpy ejecta. This picture is applied to derive the mass of X-ray emitting material. Assuming a distance of 3 kpc, an absorbing column density of 3 × 1021 atoms/cm2, and using an ion-electron non-equilibrium calculation for the emissivity, we find the average density of the ISM is 0.4 atoms/cm3, and the energy contained in the remnant is 1.4 × 1051 ergs. The total mass of X-ray emitting material in the remnant is ≈4 M⊙, ≈2 M⊙ ejecta and ≈2 M⊙ swept up, putting the remnant at an intermediate state between a free expansion and the Sedov phase. There is no evidence for neutron star. The upper limit on the surface temperature is in the range 1.1 to 1.8 × 106K.