Abstract
THE remnant of Kepler's supernova of 1604 AD has long eluded detection at X-ray wavelengths, principally because of its proximity to a source confused region in the direction of the galactic centre. We present here the first evidence for weak soft X-ray emission from Kepler's remnant, which was beyond the capability of earlier X-ray surveys1 but is now possible because of the increased sensitivity provided by the low energy detectors (LEDs) of the A 2 experiment on the HEAO 1 spacecraft. (The A 2 experiment on HEAO 1 is a collaborative effort led by E. Boldt of GSFC and G. Garmire of CIT, with collaborators at GSFC, CIT, JPL, and UCB). The LEDs are described in detail by Rothschild et al.2 Briefly, the data reported here were acquired using the LED1 narrow field of view (1.5° FWHM in the scan direction) which has an effective area of 175 cm2 and is sensitive to X-rays between 0.2 and 3 keV.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burginyon, G. et al. Astrophys. J. 179, 615 (1973).
Rothschild, R. et al. Space Sci. Instrum. (submitted).
Forman, W. et al. Astrophys. J. Suppl. 38, 357 (1978).
Cominsky, L., Jones, C., Forman, W. & Tananbaum, H. Astrophys. J. 224, 46 (1978).
Clark, D. H. & Stephenson, F. R. The Historical Supernovae (Pergamon, Oxford, 1977).
Tuohy, I. R. et al. Astrophys. J. Lett. (in the press).
Goss, M. et al. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. (in the press).
Share, G. et al. IAU Circ. No. 3169 (1978).
Clark, D. H. & Culhane, J. L. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 175, 573 (1976).
Winkler, P. F. Jr Mem. Soc. Astr. Ital. 49, 599 (1978).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
TUOHY, I., NUGENT, J., GARMIRE, G. et al. Evidence for X-ray emission from Kepler's supernova remnant. Nature 279, 139–140 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/279139a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/279139a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.