RCW 86: A TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA IN A WIND-BLOWN BUBBLE

Journal Article · Thu Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/96; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21612703

Williams, Brian J; Blondin, John M; Borkowski, Kazimierz J; Reynolds, Stephen P ^[1]; Blair, William P ^[2]; Ghavamian, Parviz; Long, Knox S ^[3]; Raymond, John C ^[4]; Rho, Jeonghee ^[5]

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1. Physics Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202 (United States)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States)
3. STScI, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
4. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
5. SOFIA/USRA, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 (United States)

We report results from a multi-wavelength analysis of the Galactic supernova remnant RCW 86, the proposed remnant of the supernova of 185 A.D. We show new infrared observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, where the entire shell is detected at 24 and 22 {mu}m. We fit the infrared flux ratios with models of collisionally heated ambient dust, finding post-shock gas densities in the non-radiative shocks of 2.4 and 2.0 cm{sup -3} in the southwest (SW) and northwest (NW) portions of the remnant, respectively. The Balmer-dominated shocks around the periphery of the shell, large amount of iron in the X-ray-emitting ejecta, and lack of a compact remnant support a Type Ia origin for this remnant. From hydrodynamic simulations, the observed characteristics of RCW 86 are successfully reproduced by an off-center explosion in a low-density cavity carved by the progenitor system. This would make RCW 86 the first known case of a Type Ia supernova in a wind-blown bubble. The fast shocks (>3000 km s{sup -1}) observed in the northeast are propagating in the low-density bubble, where the shock is just beginning to encounter the shell, while the slower shocks elsewhere have already encountered the bubble wall. The diffuse nature of the synchrotron emission in the SW and NW is due to electrons that were accelerated early in the lifetime of the remnant, when the shock was still in the bubble. Electrons in a bubble could produce gamma rays by inverse-Compton scattering. The wind-blown bubble scenario requires a single-degenerate progenitor, which should leave behind a companion star.

• OSTI ID: 21612703
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 741, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/96; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COMPTON EFFECT
COSMIC RADIATION
DUSTS
GAMMA RADIATION
INFRARED SURVEYS
IRON
STARS
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
TELESCOPES
BASIC INTERACTIONS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELASTIC SCATTERING
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
GEOLOGIC SURVEYS
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
INTERACTIONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
METALS
RADIATIONS
SCATTERING
TRANSITION ELEMENTS