Infrared studies of molecular shocks in the supernova remnant HB 21: II. Thermal admixture of shocked H2 gas in the south Original Research Article

We present near- and mid-infrared observations on the shock–cloud interaction region in the southern part of the supernova remnant HB 21, performed with the InfraRed Camera (IRC) aboard AKARI satellite and the Wide InfraRed Camera (WIRC) at the Palomar 5 m telescope. The IRC 4 μm (N4), 7 μm (S7), and 11 μm (S11) band images and the WIRC image 2.12 μm image show similar diffuse features, around a shocked CO cloud. We analyzed the emission through comparison with the H2 line emission of several shock models. The IRC colors are well explained by the thermal admixture model of H2 gas – whose infinitesimal H2 column density has a power-law relation with the temperature T, image – with image, and image. We interpreted these parameters with several different pictures of the shock–cloud interactions – multiple planar C-shocks, bow shocks, and shocked clumps – and discussed their weaknesses and strengths. The observed image intensity is four times greater than the prediction from the power-law admixture model, the same tendency as found in the northern part of HB 21 (Paper I). We also explored the limitation of the thermal admixture model with respect to the derived model parameters.