Asymmetric Type-Ia supernova origin of W49B as revealed from spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopic study

TL;DR

This study uses spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy to determine that the asymmetric supernova remnant W49B most likely originated from an asymmetric Type-Ia supernova explosion of a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf, challenging previous core-collapse interpretations.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed spatially resolved X-ray analysis supporting an asymmetric Type-Ia origin for W49B, including abundance ratios and morphology modeling.

Findings

W49B's hot gas shows a large temperature gradient and over-ionization.

Abundance ratios and metal distribution favor a Type-Ia supernova origin.

The SNR age is revised to 5-6 kyr based on recombination ages and Sedov analysis.

Abstract

The origin of the asymmetric supernova remnant (SNR) W49B has been a matter of debate: is it produced by a rare jet-driven core-collapse supernova, or by a normal supernova that is strongly shaped by its dense environment? Aiming to uncover the explosion mechanism and origin of the asymmetric, centrally filled X-ray morphology of W49B, we have performed spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy and a search for potential point sources. We report new candidate point sources inside W49B. The Chandra X-ray spectra from W49B are well-characterized by two-temperature gas components ($\sim 0.27$ keV + 0.6--2.2 keV). The hot component gas shows a large temperature gradient from the northeast to the southwest and is over-ionized in most regions with recombination timescales of 1--$10\times 10^{11}$ cm$^{-3}$ s. The Fe element shows strong lateral distribution in the SNR east, while the distribution of Si, S, Ar, Ca is relatively smooth and nearly axially symmetric. Asymmetric Type-Ia explosion of a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf well-explains the abundance ratios and metal distribution of W49B, whereas a jet-driven explosion and normal core-collapse models fail to describe the abundance ratios and large masses of iron-group elements. A model based on a multi-spot ignition of the white dwarf can explain the observed high $M_{\rm Mn}/M_{\rm Cr}$ value (0.8--2.2). The bar-like morphology is mainly due to a density enhancement in the center, given the good spatial correlation between gas density and X-ray brightness. The recombination ages and the Sedov age consistently suggest a revised SNR age of 5--6 kyr. This study suggests that despite the presence of candidate point sources projected within the boundary of this SNR, W49B is likely a Type-Ia SNR, which suggests that Type-Ia supernovae can also result in mixed-morphology SNRs.