Physical Properties of the Supernova Remnant Population in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

The X-ray emission from a supernova remnant is a powerful diagnostic of the state of its shocked plasma. The temperature and the emission measure are related to the energy of the explosion, the age of the remnant, and the density of the surrounding medium. Here we present the results of a study of the remnant population of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Progress in X-ray observations of remnants has resulted in a sample of 20 remnants in the Small Magellanic Clound with measured temperatures and emission measures. We apply spherically symmetric supernova remnant evolution models to this set of remnants, to estimate ages, explosion energies, and circumstellar medium densities. The distribution of ages yields a remnant birthrate of $\sim$1/1200 yr. The energies and densities are well fit with log-normal distributions, with means of 1.6$\times 10^{51}$ erg and 0.14 cm${}^{-3}$, and 1$\sigma$ dispersions of a factor of 1.87 in energy and 3.06 in density, respectively.

arXiv comment23 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (15)

• A distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud that is precise to one per cent
• Supernova remnants: the X-ray perspective
• Constraints on the Physics of Type Ia Supernovae from the X-Ray Spectrum of the Tycho Supernova Remnant
• The Araucaria Project. The distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud from late-type eclipsing binaries
• The population of X-ray supernova remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Evolutionary Models for 43 Galactic Supernova Remnants with Distances and X-ray Spectra
• A Python Calculator for Supernova Remnant Evolution
• The supernova remnant population of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Mysterious Odd Radio Circle near the Large Magellanic Cloud -- An Intergalactic Supernova Remnant?
• Energetics and Birth Rates of Supernova Remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Emission Measures and Emission-measure-weighted Temperatures of Shocked ISM and Ejecta in Supernova Remnants
• Evolutionary Models for 15 Galactic Supernova Remnants with New Distances
• A Detailed Archival CHANDRA Study of the Young Core-Collapse Supernova Remnant 1E 0102.2-7219 in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The Center of Expansion and Age of the Oxygen-rich Supernova Remnant 1E 0102.2-7219
• On the X-ray Properties of the Putative Central Compact Object in 1E 0102.2-7219

Cited by in corpus (5)

• An absence of binary companions to Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud: implications for mass loss and black hole masses at low metallicity
• The TRAPUM Small Magellanic Cloud pulsar survey with MeerKAT: I. Discovery of seven new pulsars and two Pulsar Wind Nebula associations
• Discovery of 20 UV Emitting SNRs in M31 with UVIT
• The role of supernovae inside AGN jets in UHECR acceleration
• The TRAPUM Small Magellanic Cloud pulsar survey with MeerKAT -- II. Nine new radio timing solutions and glitches from young pulsars