Elemental abundances of the supernova remnant G292.0+1.8: evidence for a massive progenitor

Abstract

We present a comprehensive nonequilibrium ionization (NEI) analysis of X-ray spectral data from the Einstein Observatory and EXOSAT for the supernova remnant G292.0+1.8. The spectra are well described by a single-temperature, single-timescale NEI model with kT=1.64^+0.29_−0.19 keV and n_et=(5.55^+1.2_−1.12×10¹⁰ cm⁻³s, which establishes that this remnant is indeed young and in the ionizing phase of evolution of its X-ray spectrum. We determine the abundances of the elements O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, and Fe and examine their variation over the allowed range of column density, kT, and n_et. Numerical calculations of the nucleosynthesis expected for a 25 solar mass progenitor agree best with the fitted abundances; in fact the minimum rms percent difference between this model and the derived abundances is only 15%. From the fitted emission measure and a simple geometric model of the remnant we estimate the mass of X-ray-emitting plasma to be 9.3^+1.19_−6.2 solar mass, for an assumed distance of 4.8±1.6 kpc. Additional errors on this mass estimate, from clumping of the ejecta, for example, may be substantial. No evidence was found for a difference in the thermodynamic state of the plasma as a function of elemental composition based on analysis of the individual ionization timescales of the various species. In this sense then, G292.0+1.8 resembles the remnant Cas A (another product of a massive star supernova), while it is different from the remnants of SN 1572 (Tycho) and SN 1006, both of which are believed to be from Type Ia supernovae.