A systematic study of evolved supernova remnants in the large and small Magellanic Clouds with Suzaku

Abstract

Identifying the origin type (i.e., Type Ia or core-collapse) of supernova remnants (SNRs) is crucial to determining the rates of supernova (SN) explosions in a galaxy, which is a key to understanding its recent chemical evolution. However, evolved SNRs in the so-called Sedov phase are dominated by the swept-up interstellar medium (ISM), making it difficult to determine their ejecta composition and thus SN type. Here we present a systematic X-ray study of nine evolved SNRs in the Magellanic Clouds, DEM L238, DEM L249, 0534-69.9, 0548-70.4, B0532-71.0, B0532-67.5, 0103-72.6, 0049-73.6, and 0104-72.3, using archival data of the Suzaku satellite. Although Suzaku does not spatially resolve the SN ejecta from the swept-up ISM due to the limited angular resolution, its excellent energy resolution has enabled clear separation of emission lines in the soft X-ray band. This leads to the finding that the "spatially integrated" spectra of the evolved (∼10⁴ yr) SNRs are still significantly contributed by emission from the ejecta at energies around 1 keV. The Fe/Ne mass ratios, determined mainly from the well-resolved Fe L-shell and Ne K-shell lines, clearly divide the observed SNRs into the Type Ia and core-collapse groups, confirming some previous typing made by Chandra observations that had utilized its extremely high angular resolution. This demonstrates that spatially integrated X-ray spectra of old SNRs can also be used to discriminate their progenitor type, which would be helpful for future systematic studies of extragalactic SNRs with ASTRO-H and beyond.