Revealing the obscured supernova remnant Kesteven 32 with Chandra

I report here on the analysis and interpretation of a Chandra observation of the supernova remnant Kes 32. Kes 32 is rather weak in X-rays because of a large interstellar absorption, which is found to be similar to4 x 10(22) cm(-2), larger than previously reported. Spectral analysis indicates that the ionization age of this object is very young, with net similar to 4 x 10(9) cm(-3) s and a temperature of kT(e) similar to 1 keV. The X-ray emission peaks at a smaller radius than in the radio. The low ionization age suggests that Kes 32 is a young remnant. However, a young age is in contradiction to the relatively large apparent size, which indicates an age of several thousand years instead of a few hundred years. This problem is discussed in connection with Kes 32' s unknown distance and its possible association with the Norma Galactic arm.