Modeling of the Vela complex including the Vela supernova remnant, the binary system gamma2 Velorum, and the Gum nebula

TL;DR

This paper models the Vela complex, including the supernova remnant, gamma2 Velorum binary, and Gum nebula, revealing how their interactions and the interstellar medium shape observable features.

Contribution

It introduces a non-Sedov adiabatic model for the Vela SNR in a cloudy ISM, incorporating the effects of stellar wind bubbles and asymmetrical cloud evaporation.

Findings

Vela SNR is a non-Sedov adiabatic remnant influenced by ISM clouds.

Asymmetry in the Vela SNR is explained by a stellar wind bubble from gamma2 Velorum.

Predicted gamma-ray emission from gamma2 Velorum's nucleosynthesis is below detection thresholds.

Abstract

We study the geometry and dynamics of the Vela complex including the Vela supernova remnant (SNR), the binary system gamma2 Velorum and the Gum nebula. We show that the Vela SNR belongs to a subclass of non-Sedov adiabatic remnants in a cloudy interstellar medium (ISM), the dynamics of which is determined by the heating and evaporation of ISM clouds. We explain observable characteristics of the Vela SNR with a SN explosion with energy 1.4 x 10^50 ergs near the step-like boundary of the ISM with low intercloud densities (~ 10^{-3} cm^{-3}) and with a volume-averaged density of clouds evaporated by shock in the north-east (NE) part about four times higher than the one in the south-west (SW) part. The observed asymmetry between the NE and SW parts of the Vela SNR could be explained by the presence of a stellar wind bubble (SWB) blown by the nearest-to-the Earth Wolf-Rayet (WR) star in the gamma2 Velorum system. We show that the size and kinematics of gamma2 Velorum SWB agree with predictions of numerical calculations for the evolution of the SWB of M_ini = 35M* star. The low initial mass of the WR star in gamma2 Velorum implies that the luminosity of the nuclear line of 26Al, produced by gamma2 Velorum, is below the sensitivity of existing gamma-ray telescopes.