Spatially Resolved X-ray Spectroscopy of Kepler's Supernova Remnant: Distinct Properties of the Circumstellar Medium and the Ejecta

Abstract

Kepler's supernova remnant (SNR) is believed to result from a Type Ia supernova, but be interacting with dense circumstellar material (CSM), which makes its progenitor system a mystery. Using the Chandra ACIS-S 741 ks effective exposure data and an advanced adaptive binning algorithm, we analyse the spectra from tessellated regions in Kepler's SNR. For the first time, we map out the detailed spatial distributions of emission measure (EM), electron temperature, ionization parameter, and metal abundances for both the low- and high-temperature plasma components. The low-temperature plasma diverges into two branches in the temperature v.s. ionization parameter diagram, which appear to be spatially associated with the warm CSM dusts and the Si- and S-rich ejecta, respectively. We construct the probability distribution functions of abundance ratios of O and Mg to L-shell emitting Fe ([O]/[Fe]${}_{\mathrm{L}}$ and [Mg]/[Fe]${}_{\mathrm{L}}$), and fit them with double Gaussians. Thereby, we distinguish the CSM from the ejecta: the CSM is characterized by [O]/[Fe]${}_{\mathrm{L}}$ $=0.77_{-0.23}^{+0.30}$ and [Mg]/[Fe]${}_{\mathrm{L}}$ $=1.11_{-0.32}^{+0.46}$, while the ejecta by [O]/[Fe]${}_{\mathrm{L}}$ $=0.31_{-0.10}^{+0.17}$ and [Mg]/[Fe]${}_{\mathrm{L}}$ $=0.38_{-0.19}^{+0.36}$. We estimate the total hydrogen mass of the shocked CSM as $\sim 1.4M_{\odot }$ and the EM-weighted mean [Mg]/[O] $=1.14\pm 0.49$, which can be reproduced with an asymptotic giant branch donor star with initial mass of $\sim 4M_{\odot }$. The abundance ratios from the shocked ejecta are well compatible with the predicted results from spherical delayed-detonation models for Type Ia supernovae. We also find that the two `ears' of the remnant are dominated by Si- and S-rich ejecta, thus favoring a pre-explosion jets scenario.

33 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

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