We present the results of our morphological and spectral study of properties of the supernova remnant RX J1713.7 - 3946 based on data obtained with XMM-Newton .
Highly inhomogeneous structures , such as the bright spots , filaments and dark voids , noted by Uchiyama et al .
( 2003 ) , appear in the entire bright western portion of the shell .
In addition two narrow rims are found which run parallel to each other from north to south in the western part of the remnant .
No complex structures are seen in the interior region of the remnant .
The X-ray spectra everywhere can be well represented with a power-law function of photon index ranging within \Gamma = 2.0–2.8 .
A clear difference of spectra between the central dim region and the bright western portion is seen at lower energies .
This differences can be ascribed either to an additional thermal component with electron temperature , kT _ { \mathrm { e } } = 0.56 ~ { } { ~ { } keV } from the center or , alternatively , to an increase in column density of \Delta N _ { \mathrm { H } } \sim 0.3 \times 10 ^ { 22 } { cm } ^ { -2 } in the western region .
In the context of the recent discovery by the NANTEN telescope of a molecular cloud apparently interacting with the western part of the supernova remnant , the second possibility seems to be the more likely scenario .