The Mass of the Vela Pulsar Progenitor and the Age of the Vela-Puppis Complex

TL;DR

This study uses Gaia data and a new modeling algorithm to estimate the age and progenitor mass of the Vela Pulsar, revealing complexities in stellar population analysis and suggesting the need for refined models.

Contribution

Introduces Stellar Ages, a novel algorithm combining individual and population-level age inferences, to analyze the Vela-Puppis complex and infer the pulsar's progenitor properties.

Findings

Weak support for a very young progenitor (<10 Myr)

Moderate support for a 40 Myr old population

Strong support for an intermediate 65-100 Myr old population

Abstract

The association of the Vela Pulsar with the Vela Supernova Remnant has long supported the hypothesis that core-collapse supernovae yield neutron stars, but its surrounding stellar population now offers new insights into progenitor evolution. By age-dating stars within 150 pc of the Vela Pulsar, we infer properties of its progenitor. These stars belong to the Vela-Puppis complex, revealing the region's star formation history. While stellar population models with standard assumptions suggest a likely progenitor age and mass, these predictions are internally inconsistent with the observed population, indicating that something is missing in the standard modeling approach. With those assumptions, there is very weak support for a $\lesssim$10 Myr old population, moderate support for a 40 Myr old population, and strong support for an intermediate age population around 65-100 Myrs old. The $\lesssim$10 Myr signal hinges on two peculiar O stars, which are unlike any others in the Vela-Puppis complex and imply nearly three times more main sequence stars than are observed. The 40 Myr-old population is supported by 6 red supergiants (RSGs) and several Be stars; but this population is again marginally inconsistent with the observed distribution of main sequence stars. The red giant (RG) and MS distributions are consistent with a 65-100 Myr old population. We discuss several possible resolutions, emphasizing how binary evolution and/or very rapid rotation could resolve these discrepancies. Gaia parallaxes and {\it Stellar Ages} enable these results; {\it Stellar Ages} is a novel stellar population modeling algorithm that combines individual and population-level age inferences.