Detection of magnesium-rich ejecta in the middle-aged supernova remnant N49B

The middle-aged supernova remnant (SNR) N49B in the Large Magellanic Cloud has been observed with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The superb angular resolution of Chandra resolves the complex structure of X-ray-emitting filaments across the SNR. All observed features are soft (E < 3 keV), and we find no evidence of either pointlike or extended hard emission within the SNR. Spectral lines from O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Fe are present. Equivalent width images for the detected elemental species and spatially resolved spectral analysis reveal the presence of Mg-rich ejecta within the SNR. We find no such enrichment in O or Ne, which may reflect details of the nucleosynthesis process or the heating and cooling of the ejecta as it evolved. The bright circumferential filaments are emission from the shocked dense interstellar medium (ISM). We detect faint diffuse X-ray emission that extends beyond the X-ray-bright filaments toward the west and southeast. These features appear to be the blast wave shock front expanding into lower density portions of the ISM seen in projection. We set an upper limit of ∼2 x 10(33) ergs s(-1) on the 0.5-5 keV band X-ray luminosity of any embedded compact object.