The Expansion of the Young Supernova Remnant 0509-68.7 (N103B)

Abstract

Abstract We present a second epoch of Chandra observations of the Type Ia Large Magellanic Cloud supernova remnant (SNR) 0509-68.7 (N103B) obtained in 2017. When combined with the earlier observations from 1999, we have a 17.4 year baseline with which we can search for evidence of the remnant’s expansion. Although the lack of strong point source detections makes absolute image alignment at the necessary accuracy impossible, we can measure the change in the diameter and the area of the remnant, and find that it has expanded by an average velocity of 4170 (2860, 5450) km s−1. This supports the picture of this being a young remnant; this expansion velocity corresponds to an undecelerated age of 850 years, making the real age somewhat younger, consistent with results from light echo studies. Previous infrared observations have revealed high densities in the western half of the remnant, likely from circumstellar material, so it is probable that the real expansion velocity is lower on that side of the remnant and higher on the eastern side. A similar scenario is seen in Kepler’s SNR. N103B joins the rare class of Magellanic Cloud SNRs with measured proper motions.