An X-ray upper limit on the presence of a Neutron Star for the Small Magellanic Cloud and Supernova Remnant 1E0102.2-7219

TL;DR

This study uses deep Chandra X-ray observations of supernova remnant 1E0102.2-7219 in the Small Magellanic Cloud to set upper limits on the presence of a neutron star, but finds no definitive evidence of one.

Contribution

It provides the deepest X-ray upper limits on a neutron star in this remnant, improving constraints on its possible properties compared to previous studies.

Findings

No confirmed compact object detected within the remnant.

Established upper limits on the luminosity of a potential neutron star.

Improved constraints on neutron star characteristics in this supernova remnant.

Abstract

We present Chandra X-ray Observatory archival observations of the supernova remnant 1E0102.2-7219, a young Oxygen-rich remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Combining 28 ObsIDs for 324 ks of total exposure time, we present an ACIS image with an unprecedented signal-to-noise ratio (mean S/N ~ sqrt(S) ~6; maximum S/N > 35) . We search within the remnant, using the source detection software {\sc wavdetect}, for point sources which may indicate a compact object. Despite finding numerous detections of high significance in both broad and narrow band images of the remnant, we are unable to satisfactorily distinguish whether these detections correspond to emission from a compact object. We also present upper limits to the luminosity of an obscured compact stellar object which were derived from an analysis of spectra extracted from the high signal-to-noise image. We are able to further constrain the characteristics of a potential neutron star for this remnant with the results of the analysis presented here, though we cannot confirm the existence of such an object for this remnant.