EXPANSION OF THE YOUNGEST GALACTIC SUPERNOVA REMNANT G1.9+0.3

Journal Article · Wed Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/737/1/L22· OSTI ID:21562473

Carlton, Ashley K ^[1]; Borkowski, Kazimierz J; Reynolds, Stephen P ^[2]; Hwang, Una; Petre, Robert ^[3]; Green, David A ^[4]; Krishnamurthy, Kalyani; Willett, Rebecca ^[5]

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1. Department of Physics, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202 (United States)
3. NASA/GSFC, Code 660, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
4. Cavendish Laboratory, 19 J.J. Thomson Ave., Cambridge CB3 0HE (United Kingdom)
5. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 (United States)

We present a measurement of the expansion and brightening of G1.9 + 0.3, the youngest Galactic supernova remnant (SNR), comparing Chandra X-ray images obtained in 2007 and 2009. A simple uniform-expansion model describes the data well, giving an expansion rate of 0.642% {+-} 0.049% yr{sup -1} and a flux increase of 1.7% {+-} 1.0% yr{sup -1}. Without deceleration, the remnant age would then be 156 {+-} 11 yr, consistent with earlier results. Since deceleration must have occurred, this age is an upper limit; we estimate an age of about 110 yr or an explosion date of about 1900. The flux increase is comparable to reported increases at radio wavelengths. G1.9+0.3 is the only Galactic SNR increasing in flux, with implications for the physics of electron acceleration in shock waves.

• OSTI ID: 21562473
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 737, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/737/1/L22; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
EXPANSION
GALAXIES
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES