We present Chandra X-ray observations of the young supernova remnant ( SNR ) 0509 - 67.5 in the Large Magellanic Cloud ( LMC ) , believed to be the product of a Type Ia supernova ( SN Ia ) .
The remnant is very round in shape , with a distinct clumpy shell-like structure that extends to an average radius of 14.8 \arcsec ( 3.6 pc ) in the X-ray band .
Our Chandra data reveal the remnant to be rich in silicon , sulfur , and iron .
The yields of our fits to the global spectrum confirm that 0509 - 67.5 is the remnant of an SN Ia and show a clear preference for delayed detonation explosion models for SNe Ia .
The Chandra spectra extracted from radial rings are in general quite similar ; the most significant variation with radius is a drop in the equivalent widths of the strong emission lines right at the edge of the remnant .
We study the spectrum of the single brightest isolated knot in the remnant and find that it is enhanced in iron by a factor of roughly two relative to the global remnant abundances .
This feature , along with similar knots seen in Tycho ’ s SNR , argues for the presence of modest small-scale composition inhomogeneities in SNe Ia .
The presence of both Si and Fe , with abundance ratios that vary from knot to knot , indicates that these came from the transition region between the Si- and Fe-rich zones in the exploded star , possibly as a result of energy input to the ejecta at late times due to the radioactive decay of ^ { 56 } Ni and ^ { 56 } Co. Two cases for the continuum emission from the global spectrum were modeled : one where the continuum is dominated by hydrogen thermal bremsstrahlung radiation ; another where the continuum arises from non-thermal synchrotron radiation .
The former case requires a relatively large value for the ambient density ( \sim 1 cm ^ { -3 } ) .
Another estimate of the ambient density comes from using the shell structure of the remnant in the context of dynamical models .
This requires a much lower value for the density ( < 0.05 cm ^ { -3 } ) which is more consistent with other evidence known about 0509 - 67.5 .
We therefore conclude that the bulk of the continuum emission from 0509 - 67.5 has a non-thermal origin .