Nucleosynthesis in the Oxygen-rich Supernova Remnant G292.0+1.8 from Chandra X-Ray Spectroscopy

We continue our analysis of the Galactic oxygen-rich supernova remnant (SNR) G292.0+1.8, which was observed with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The high angular resolution Chandra data resolve metal-rich ejecta knots as well as the shocked circumstellar medium. X-ray emission from the ejecta material in G292.0+1.8 is dominated by highly ionized O, Ne, and Mg. Measured abundance ratios suggest that this material was produced during the hydrostatic evolution of the massive progenitor star. In contrast to Cassiopeia A, there is little evidence for X-ray-emitting ejecta from explosive nucleosynthesis, i.e., material enriched in Si, S, and particularly, Fe. This limits the amount of mixing or overturning of deep ejecta material in G292.0+1.8 and suggests that the ejecta are strongly stratified by composition and that the reverse shock has not propagated to the Si/S- or Fe-rich zones. On the other hand, the bright equatorial belt is dominated by X-ray emission with normal chemical composition, which supports shocked dense circumstellar material for its origin. We find that the thermal pressure in the SNR is much higher than the pressure in the pulsar wind nebula (PWN), indicating that the reverse shock has not yet begun to interact with the PWN.