2005A&A...430L..69G

The Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) is a double-shell planetary nebula (PN) known for the exceptionally large expansion velocity of its inner shell, ∼90km/s, and the existence of a fast bipolar outflow with a line-of-sight expansion velocity approaching 200km/s. We have obtained XMM-Newton observations of the Eskimo and detected diffuse X-ray emission within its inner shell. The X-ray spectra suggest thin plasma emission with a temperature of ∼2x10⁶K and an X-ray luminosity of L_X=(2.6±1.0)x10³¹(d/1150pc)²erg/s, where d is the distance in parsecs. The diffuse X-ray emission shows noticeably different spatial distributions between the 0.2-0.65keV and 0.65-2.0keV bands. High-resolution X-ray images of the Eskimo are needed to determine whether its diffuse X-ray emission originates from shocked fast wind or bipolar outflows.