THE GALACTIC SUPERNOVA REMNANT W49B LIKELY ORIGINATES FROM A JET-DRIVEN, CORE-COLLAPSE EXPLOSION

THE GALACTIC SUPERNOVA REMNANT W49B LIKELY ORIGINATES FROM A JET-DRIVEN, CORE-COLLAPSE EXPLOSION

We present results from a 220 ks observation of the Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) W49B using the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer on board the Chanrda X-ray Observatory. We exploit these data to perform detailed spatially resolved spectroscopic analyses across the SNR with the aim to investigate...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lopez, Laura A. (Contributor), Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico (Author), Castro, Daniel (Contributor), Pearson, Sarah (Author)
Other Authors: MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of Physics/American Astronomical Society, 2015-02-12T20:21:59Z.
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Summary:We present results from a 220 ks observation of the Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) W49B using the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer on board the Chanrda X-ray Observatory. We exploit these data to perform detailed spatially resolved spectroscopic analyses across the SNR with the aim to investigate the thermodynamic properties and explosive origin of W49B. We find substantial variation in the electron temperature and absorbing column toward W49B, and we show that the mean metal abundances are consistent with the predicted yields in models of bipolar/jet-driven core-collapse SNe. Furthermore, we set strict upper limits on the X-ray luminosity of any undetected point sources, and we exclude the presence of a neutron star associated with W49B. We conclude that the morphological, spectral, and environmental characteristics of W49B are indicative of a bipolar Type Ib/Ic SN origin, making it the first of its kind to be discovered in the Milky Way.
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA contract NAS8-03060)
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (Contract SV3-73016)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Pappalardo Fellowship in Physics)
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, Einstein Fellowship Program, grant PF1-120085)
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF grant AST-0847563)
David & Lucile Packard Foundation
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA under contract NAS8-03060)
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Chandra Award Number GO2-13003A)

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