Discovery of molecular shells associated with supernova remnants. (II) Kesteven 75

TL;DR

This study identifies molecular shells associated with supernova remnant Kesteven 75, clarifying its distance, morphology, and potential gamma-ray origins through millimeter spectroscopic observations of surrounding molecular clouds.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed molecular gas analysis linking Kesteven 75 to specific molecular clouds, determining its distance and explaining its multiwavelength morphology.

Findings

Association of SNR with 54 km/s molecular cloud confirmed.

Kinematic distance of approximately 10.6 kpc established.

Molecular shells suggest SNR shock interaction with pre-existing dense material.

Abstract

The young composite supernova remnant (SNR) Kesteven 75, with a pulsar wind nebula at its center, has an unusual morphology with a bright southern half-shell structure in multiwavelengths. The distance to Kes 75 has long been uncertain. Aiming to address these issues, we have made millimeter spectroscopic observations of the molecular gas toward the remnant. The V_{LSR}~83--96 km/s molecular clouds (MCs) are found to overlap a large north-western region of the remnant and are suggested to be located in front of the SNR along the line of sight. Also in the remnant area, the V_{LSR}= 45--58 km/s MC shows a blue-shifted broadening in the 12CO (J=1-0) line profile and a perturbed position-velocity structure near the edge of the remnant, with the intensity centroid sitting in the northern area of the remnant. In particular, a cavity surrounded by a molecular shell is unveiled in the intensity map in the broadened blue wing (45--51 km/s), and the southern molecular shell follows the bright partial SNR shell seen in X-rays, mid-infrared, and radio continuum. These observational features provide effective evidences for the association of Kes 75 with the adjacent 54 km/s MC. This association leads to a determination of the kinematic distance at ~10.6 kpc to the remnant, which agrees with a location at the far side of the Sagittarius arm. The morphological coincidence of the shell seen in multiwavelengths is consistent with a scenario in which the SNR shock hits a pre-existing dense shell. This dense molecular shell is suggested to likely represent the debris of the cooled, clumpy shell of the progenitor's wind bubble proximately behind the 54 km/s cloud. The discovery of the association with MC provides a possible explanation for the gamma-ray excess of the remnant.