A nearby recent supernova that ejected the runaway star zeta Oph, the pulsar PSRB1706-16, and 60-Fe found on Earth

TL;DR

This study traces back the origins of nearby supernovae, linking them to the detection of $^{60}$Fe on Earth, and identifies specific runaway stars and neutron stars associated with these supernovae.

Contribution

The paper introduces software for tracing the past trajectories of runaway and neutron stars to identify their supernova origins in nearby stellar associations.

Findings

Runaway star $$ Oph and pulsar PSRB1706-16 originated from a supernova 1.78 Myr ago.

Supernova progenitor mass estimated at 16-18 solar masses.

Potential additional supernova linked to high-mass X-ray binary within 112 pc.

Abstract

The detection of $\sim 1.5-3.2$ Myr old $^{60}$Fe on Earth indicates recent nearby core-collapse supernovae. For supernovae in multiple stars, the primary stars may become neutron stars, while former companions may become unbound and become runaway stars. We wrote software for tracing back the space motion of runaway and neutron stars to young associations of massive stars. We apply it here to the nearby young Scorpius-Centaurus-Lupus groups, all known runaway stars possibly coming from there, and all 400 neutron stars with known transverse velocity. We find kinematic evidence that the runaway $\zeta$ Oph and the radio pulsar PSRB1706-16 were released by a supernova in a binary $1.78 \pm 0.21$ Myr ago at $107 \pm 4$ pc distance (for pulsar radial velocity $260 \pm 43$ km/s); association age and flight time determine the progenitor mass (16-18 M$_{\odot}$), which can constrain supernova nucleosynthesis yields and $^{60}$Fe uptake on Earth. In addition, we notice that the only high-mass X-ray binary in Scorpius-Centaurus-Lupus (1H11255-567 with $\mu^{1}$ and $\mu^{2}$ Cru) may include a neutron star formed in another SN, up to $\sim 1.8$ Myr ago at $89-112$ pc, i.e. also yielding $^{60}$Fe detectable on Earth. Our scenario links $^{60}$Fe found on Earth to one or two individual supernovae in multiple stars.