We report on multi-epoch X-ray observations of the Type IIn ( narrow emission line ) supernova SN 1995N with the ROSAT and ASCA satellites .
The January 1998 ASCA X-ray spectrum is well fitted by a thermal bremsstrahlung ( kT \sim 10 keV , \mbox { $N _ { H } $ } \sim 6 \times 10 ^ { 20 } cm ^ { -2 } ) or power-law ( \alpha \sim 1.7 , \mbox { $N _ { H } $ } \sim 10 ^ { 21 } cm ^ { -2 } ) model .
The X-ray light curve shows evidence for significant flux evolution between August 1996 and January 1998 : the count rate from the source decreased by 30 % between our August 1996 and August 1997 ROSAT observations , and the X-ray luminosity most likely increased by a factor of \sim 2 between our August 1997 ROSAT and January 1998 ASCA observations , although evolution of the spectral shape over this interval is not ruled out .
The high X-ray luminosity , \mbox { $L _ { X } $ } \sim 10 ^ { 41 } ergs s ^ { -1 } , places SN 1995N in a small group of Type IIn supernovae with strong circumstellar interaction , and the evolving X-ray luminosity suggests that the circumstellar medium is distributed inhomogeneously .