Probing magnetohydrodynamic shocks with high-J CO observations: W28F^⋆

¹ Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany
e-mail: agusdorf@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
² LERMA, UMR 8112 du CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, École Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
³ Argelander Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn, Germany
⁴ I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Strasse 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
⁵ Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Planetenforschung, Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
⁶ Institut für Optik und Atomare Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstrasse 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany
⁷ Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Max-Planck-Strasse 2, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

Received: 30 January 2012
Accepted: 8 March 2012

Abstract

Context. Observing supernova remnants (SNRs) and modelling the shocks they are associated with is the best way to quantify the energy SNRs re-distribute back into the interstellar medium (ISM).

Aims. We present comparisons of shock models with CO observations in the F knot of the W28 supernova remnant. These comparisons constitute a valuable tool to constrain both the shock characteristics and pre-shock conditions.

Methods. New CO observations from the shocked regions with the APEX and SOFIA telescopes are presented and combined. The integrated intensities are compared to the outputs of a grid of models, which were combined from an MHD shock code that calculates the dynamical and chemical structure of these regions and a radiative transfer module based on the large velocity gradient (LVG) approximation.

Results. We base our modelling method on the higher J CO transitions, which unambiguously trace the passage of a shock wave. We provide fits for the blue- and red-lobe components of the observed shocks. We find that only stationary, C-type shock models can reproduce the observed levels of CO emission. Our best models are found for a pre-shock density of 10⁴ cm^-3, with the magnetic field strength varying between 45 and 100 μG, and a slightly higher shock velocity for the so-called blue-shock (~25 km s^-1) than for the red one (~20 km s^-1). Our models also satisfactorily account for the pure rotational H₂ emission that is observed with Spitzer.