Fe K and ejecta emission in SNR G15.9+0.2 withXMM-Newton

Abstract

Aims. We present a study of the Galactic supernova remnant SNR G15.9+0.2 with archival XMM-Newton observations. Methods. EPIC data are used to investigate the morphological and spectral properties of the remnant, searching in particular for supernova ejecta and Fe K line emission. By comparing the SNR's X-ray absorption column density with the atomic and molecular gas distribution along the line of sight, we attempt to constrain the distance to the SNR. Results. Prominent line features reveal the presence of ejecta. Abundance ratios of Mg, Si, S, Ar, and Ca strongly suggest that the progenitor of SNR G15.9+0.2 was a massive star with a main sequence mass likely in the range 20-25 M ⊙ , strengthening the physical association with a candidate central compact object detected with Chandra. Using EPIC's collective power, Fe K line emission from SNR G15.9+0.2 is detected for the first time. We measure the line properties and find evidence for spatial variations. We discuss how the source fits within the sample of SNRs with detected Fe K emission and find that it is the core-collapse SNR with the lowest Fe K centroid energy. We also present some caveats regarding the use of Fe K line centroid energy as a typing tool for SNRs. Only a lower limit of 5 kpc is placed on the distance to SNR G15.9+0.2, constraining its age to t S NR 2 kyr.

Infrared and X-ray study of the Galactic SNR G15.9+0.2

“…Our spectral parameters N H , kT, and τ are consistent with the results obtained by Maggi & Acero (2017). They also find a slight overabundance of elements Mg, Si, S, Ar, and Ca in various regions of the SNR.…”

“…In order to search for ejecta emission discovered by Maggi & Acero (2017) in the XMM-Newton spectrum, we extracted the spectrum of a larger region in the brighter eastern shell as indicated by the ellipse in Fig. 1 (left).…”

Comparing Neutron Star Kicks to Supernova Remnant Asymmetries

“…Using deep Chandra observations, Klochkov et al (2016) showed that the X-ray point source CXOU J181852.0−150213 in G15.9+0.2 is a cooling, low-magnetized neutron star of the central compact object (CCO) class (e.g., Pavlov et al 2004). Recently, Maggi & Acero (2017) analyzed archival XMM-Newton observations of G15.9+0.2, extracting spectra from several locations along the shell and interior. These data have strong Mg, Si, S, Ar, and Ca lines, as well as a weak Fe K feature.…”

“…These data have strong Mg, Si, S, Ar, and Ca lines, as well as a weak Fe K feature. Maggi & Acero (2017) found that the spectra were best-fit by an absorbed, NEI plasma model, with absorbing columns of N H ≈ (4 − 5) × 10 22 cm −2 , temperatures of kT ≈ 0.7 − 1.5 keV, and ionization timescales of n e t ≈ (7 − 9) × 10 10 s cm −3 (except in the northwest, where the faint shell has n e t > 3.5 × 10 11 s cm −3 ). All regions showed enhanced abundances (with ≈ 1.3 − 4.3× the solar values) of the detected metals.…”

Detection of GeV $γ$-Ray Emission from supernova remnant SNR G15.9+0.2 with Fermi-LAT

“…Moreover, from the integrated remnant spectrum of SNR G15.9+0.2, they found that the features with the strong Kα emission from Ca, Ar, S, Si, and Mg. Also, they estimated the age of SNR G15.9+0.2 in the order of 10 3 yr. Through XMM-Newton observations, Maggi & Acero (2017) found the evidence of spatial variations by measuring the Fe K line features. They believed that SNR G15.9+0.2 with the lowest Fe K centroid energy is the core-collapse SNR.…”