A Morphological Study of the Supernova Remnant RX J0852.0-4622 (Vela Jr.)

TL;DR

This study provides a detailed multi-wavelength morphological analysis of the supernova remnant RX J0852.0-4622, revealing its shell structure, potential associations with molecular features, and interactions with the interstellar medium.

Contribution

It offers the first comprehensive morphological characterization of RX J0852.0-4622 across multiple wavelengths, clarifying its structure and possible interactions with surrounding molecular clouds.

Findings

RX J0852.0-4622 has a shell radius of approximately 0.90 degrees.

The 'Vela Claw' feature may be associated with the SNR.

Spectral index flattening suggests shock-ISM interactions.

Abstract

We conduct a multi-wavelength morphological study of the Galactic supernova remnant RXJ0852.0-4622 (also known as Vela Jr., Vela Z and G266.2-1.2). RX J0852.0-4622 is coincident with the edge of the larger Vela supernova remnant causing confusion in the attribution of some filamentary structures to either RX J0852.0-4622 or its larger sibling. We find that the RX J0852.0-4622 radio continuum emission can be characterised by a 2-dimensional shell with a radius of 0.90+/-0.01deg (or 11.8+/-0.6pc at an assumed distance of 750pc) centred at (l,b)=(133.08+/-0.01 deg,-46.34+/-0.01deg) (or RA=8h52m19.2s, Dec=-46deg20'24.0'', J2000), consistent with X-ray and gamma-ray emission. Although [OIII] emission features are generally associated with the Vela SNR, one particular [OIII] emission feature, which we denote as "the Vela Claw", morphologically matches a molecular clump that is thought to have been stripped by the stellar progenitor of the RX J0852.0-4622 SNR. We argue that the Vela Claw feature is possibly associated with RX J0852.0-4622. Towards the north-western edge of RX J0852.0-4622, we find a flattening of the radio spectral index towards another molecular clump also thought to be associated with RX J0852.0-4622. It is currently unclear whether this feature and the Vela Claw result from interactions between the RX J0852.0-4622 shock and the ISM.