The kinematics and chemical stratification of the type Ia supernova remnant 0519-69.0

An XMM-Newton and Chandra study

¹ Astronomical Institute Utrecht, Utrecht University, PO Box 80000, 3508TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
² Sternberg Astronomical Institute, 119992, Universitetski pr., 13, Moscow, Russia e-mail: D.Kosenko@uu.nl

Received: 18 December 2009
Accepted: 14 March 2010

Abstract

We present a detailed analysis of the XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray data of the young type Ia supernova remnant SNR 0519-69.0, which is situated in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We used data from both the Chandra ACIS and XMM-Newton EPIC MOS instruments, and high resolution X-ray spectra obtained with the XMM-Newton reflection grating spectrometer (RGS).
Our analysis of the spatial distribution of X-ray line emission using the Chandra data shows that there is a radial stratification of oxygen, intermediate mass elements (IME) and iron, with the emission from more massive elements peaking more toward the center. Using a deprojection technique we measure a forward shock radius of 4.0±0.3 pc and a reverse shock radius of 2.7±0.4 pc.
We took the observed stratification of the shocked ejecta into account in the modeling of the X-ray spectra, for which we used multi-component non-equilibrium ionization models, with the components corresponding to layers dominated by one or two elements. An additional component was added in order to represent the shocked interstellar medium, which mostly contributed to the continuum emission. This multicomponent model fits the data adequately, and was also employed to characterize the spectra of distinct regions extracted from the Chandra data. From our spectral analysis we find that the approximate fractional masses of shocked ejecta for the most abundant elements are: ≈ 32%, ≈ 7%/5%, ≈ 1% and ≈ 55%. From the continuum component we derive a circumstellar density of n_H = 2.4 ± 0.2 cm^-3. This density, together with the measurements of the forward and reverse shock radii suggest an age of 0519-69.0 of 450±200 yr, somewhat lower than, but consistent with the age estimate based on the extent of the light echo (600±200 yr).
Finally, from the high resolution RGS spectra we measured a Doppler broadening of σ = 1873 ± 50 km s^-1, from which we derive a forward shock velocity of v_FS = 2770 ± 500 km s^-1. We discuss our results in the context of single degenerate explosion models, using semi-analytical and numerical modeling, and compare the characteristics of 0519-69.0 with those of other type Ia supernova remnants.