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[36.04] The Progenitor of the New Vela SNR GRO J0852-4642

W. Chen (UMD/GSFC), N. Gehrels (NASA/GSFC)

We show that (1) the newly discovered supernova remnant in Vela, GRO J0852-4642/RX J0852.0-4622, was probably created by a core-collapse supernova of a 15 solar-mass star about 700 yrs ago at a distance of ~50 pc, and (2) the same supernova which produced the ⁴⁴Ti detected by COMPTEL from this source may also be responsible for the ²⁶Al emission in the same direction observed by COMPTEL. Our analysis favors a large current SNR shell expansion speed of more than 3,000 km s^-1, more than a factor of 2 greater than that naively derived from the X-ray data. A combination of our source parameter estimates and the positional coincidence of the new SNR with the centroid of the COMPTEL ²⁶Al emission feature of the Vela region argues strongly for a causal connection. We also discuss some other significant theoretical implications.

If the author provided an email address or URL for general inquiries, it is as follows:

chen@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov