The Distance to and the Near-infrared Extinction of the Monoceros Supernova Remnant

Abstract

Supernova remnants (SNRs) contain information on the influence of supernova explosions on dust properties. Based on the color indices from the Two Micron All Sky Survey and the stellar parameters from the SDSS-DR12/Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment and LAMOST-DR2/LAMOST Experiment for Galactic Understanding and Exploration spectroscopic surveys, the near-infrared extinction law of and the distance to the Monoceros SNR are derived together with those of two nebulae close to it, the Rosette Nebula and NGC 2264. The distance is found at the position of the sharp increase of the interstellar extinction with distance, and the nebular extinction is calculated by subtracting the foreground interstellar extinction. The distance to the Monoceros SNR is determined to be 1.98 kpc, larger than previous values. Meanwhile, the distance to the Rosette Nebula is 1.55 kpc, which is generally consistent with previous work. The distance between these two nebulae suggests no interaction between them. The distance to NGC 2264, 1.20 kpc, exceeds previous values. The color excess ratio, {E}_{JH}/{E}_{{JK}_S}, is 0.657 for the Monoceros SNR, consistent with the average value of 0.652 for the Milky Way. This consistency results from the fact that the SNR material is dominated by interstellar dust rather than by supernova ejecta. {E}_{JH}/{E}_{{JK}_S} is equal to 0.658 for the Rosette Nebula, further proving the universality of the near-infrared extinction law.