Cas A: The Bright X-ray Knots and Oxygen Emission
  Chandra High-Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) X-ray spectra are extracted from 17 bright, narrow regions of Cas A and provide unique measurements of their kinematic and plasma states. From the dominant emission lines, e.g. He-like Si, we derive accurate Doppler shifts in the range -2500 to +4000 km/s; these agree well with transverse-velocity measurements and allow the features to be located in 3D. Plasma diagnostics of these regions indicate temperatures largely around 1 keV with some above 3 keV. Using as well the non-dispersed zeroth-order data, we determine NEI model parameters for the regions which lead to density estimates. Values of n_e ~ 100 /cm^3 are likely the maximum of a range of densities in this X-ray emitting material. The common "oxygen-rich" assumption is coarsely tested by comparing the integrated O VIII line flux and continuum levels. It appears that most of the continuum is due to another source, e.g., from He. 
D. Dewey (1), T. DeLaney (1) and J. S. Lazendic (2) ((1) MIT Kavli   Institute, (2) University of Melbourne)