Abstract
RX-J0852−4622, a supernova remnant, is demonstrated to be closer than 500 pc, based on the measurements of the angular radius, the angular expansion rate and the TeV g-ray flux. This is a new method of limiting the distance to any supernova remnant with hadronic induced TeV g-ray flux. The progenitor star of RX-J0852−4622 probably exploded in its blue supergiant wind, like SN 1987A, preceeded by a red supergiant phase. A cool dense shell, expected around the outskirts of the red wind, my have been identified. The distance (200 pc) and age (680 yr) of the supernova remnant, originally proposed, are supported.
Highlights
RX-J0852−4622, nicknamed Vela Junior (Vela Jr.), is a supernova remnant (SNR) discovered in the ROSAT all-sky survey [3]
; E0 = 1051 erg is the maximum energy generally attributed to a SN explosion; Wp,1 is the cosmic ray proton energy, derived from the measured TeV γ-ray spectrum normalized to d2 = 1 and n0 = 1 cm−3; Ek,1 = 5.8 × 1049 erg is the energy computed for d2 = 1 and n0 = 1 cm−3, and an angular expansion of 1 /yr and an angular radius of 1°
Summarizing, the analysis shows that the concept of an explosion of the Vela Jr. progenitor star into a medium of constant isotropic matter density distribution is not applicable, and estimates of age and density on this basis are irrelevant
Summary
RX-J0852−4622, nicknamed Vela Junior (Vela Jr.), is a supernova remnant (SNR) discovered in the ROSAT all-sky survey [3]. At X-ray energies > 1.3 keV does Vela Jr. become X-ray visible. Aharonian et al [2] provide evidence that the TeV γ-rays are likely not to be of leptonic origin (inverse Compton scattering of electrons and photons) but of hadronic origin (nuclear collisions between SNR produced cosmic ray protons and nuclei of the ambient matter). This is supported by the MeV γ-ray measurements of Tanaka et al [12]. I show that Vela Jr. is very close, and likely to be as young as originally suggested [4]
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