A Chandra X-ray study of supernova remnant N63A in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

ABSTRACT We perform extensive spectroscopy of the supernova remnant N63A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using ∼43 ks Chandra archival data. By analysing the spectra of the entire remnant, we determine the abundance distributions for O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe. We detect evidence of enhanced O and possibly Ne and Mg in some of the central regions which might indicate an asymmetric distribution of the ejecta. The average O/Ne, O/Mg, and Ne/Mg abundance ratios of the ejecta are in plausible agreement with the nucleosynthesis products from the explosion of a ∼40 M⊙ progenitor. We estimate an upper limit on the Sedov age of ∼5400 ± 200 yr and explosion energy of ∼8.9 ± 1.6 × 1051 erg for N63A. We discuss the implications of our results for the morphological structure of the remnant, its circumstellar medium, and the nature of the progenitor star.