We performed a spatially resolved spectroscopic study of the thermal composite supernova remnant 3C 391 by the Chandra observation. Broad- and narrow-band X-ray images show a southeast-northwest elongated morphology and unveil a highly clumpy structure of the remnant. The spectral analysis for. the small-scale features indicates normal metal abundance and uniform temperature for the interior gas. The properties of the hot gas are largely in agreement with the cloudlet evaporation model as a main mechanism for the 'thermal composite' X-ray appearance, though radiative rim and thermal conduction may also be effective. An unresolved X-ray source, with a power-law spectrum, is observed on the northwest border. The equivalent width images reveal a faint finger-like protrusion in Si and S lines out of the southwest radio border.

• YANG CHEN(Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University)
• YANG SU(Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University)
• PATRICK O. SLANE(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
• Q. DANIEL WANG(Department of Astronomy, B619E-LGRT, University of Massachusetts)