Expansion and Age of the Supernova Remnant G350.1-0.3: High-Velocity Iron Ejecta from a Core-Collapse Event

TL;DR

This study uses Chandra X-ray observations to analyze the expansion, velocities, and composition of the supernova remnant G350.1-0.3, revealing high-velocity iron ejecta and indicating a young, asymmetric core-collapse supernova remnant.

Contribution

First detailed measurement of expansion and velocities in G350.1-0.3, showing high-velocity iron ejecta and constraining its age to about 600 years.

Findings

Iron ejecta velocities up to 6000 km/s

Remnant age estimated at ~600 years

Supernova likely not a Type IIP event

Abstract

We report Chandra observations of the highly asymmetric core-collapse supernova remnant G350.1-0.3. We document expansion over 9 years away from the roughly stationary central compact object, with sky-plane velocities up to $5000 d_{4.5}$ km s$^{-1}$ ($d_{4.5}$ is the distance in units of 4.5 kpc), redshifts ranging from 900 km s$^{-1}$ to 2600 km s$^{-1}$, and three-dimensional space velocities approaching 6000 km s$^{-1}$. Most of the bright emission comes from heavy-element ejecta particularly strong in iron. Iron-enhanced ejecta are seen at 4000 - 6000 km s$^{-1}$, strongly suggesting that the supernova was not a common Type IIP event. While some fainter regions have roughly solar abundances, we cannot identify clear blast-wave features. Our expansion proper motions indicate that G350.1-0.3 is no more than about 600 years old, independent of distance: the third youngest known core-collapse supernova in the Galaxy, and one of the most asymmetric.