Temperature, brightness and spectral index of the cygnus radio loop

Abstract

The estimated brightness of the Cygnus loop supernova remnant (SNR) at 2720, 1420, 820, 408 and 34.5 MHz is presented. The observations of the continuum radio emission are used to calculate the mean brightness temperatures and surface brightnesses of this loop at the five frequencies in a wide spectral range, using the method we have previously developed for large radio loops. The spectrum for mean temperatures versus frequency between the five frequencies is estimated and the spectral index of the Cygnus loop is obtained. Also, from our results it can be concluded that the Cygnus loop evolves in a low density environment and that the initial energy of the supernova explosion was relatively low. The results obtained confirm the non-thermal origin of the Cygnus radio loop and show that our method is applicable to almost all remnants. © 2011: Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.