Bibcode
Bedin, L. R.; Ruiz-Lapuente, P.; González Hernández, J. I.; Canal, R.; Filippenko, A. V.; Mendez, J.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 439, Issue 1, p.354-371
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3
2014
Citations
37
Refereed citations
34
Description
With archival and new Hubble Space Telescope observations, we have
refined the space-velocity measurements of the stars in the central
region of the remnant of Tycho's supernova (SN) 1572, one of the
historical Galactic Type Ia supernova remnants (SNRs). We derived a
proper motion for Tycho-G of (μαcos δ;
μδ)J2000.0 = (-2.63; -3.98) ±
(0.06; 0.04) [formal errors] ± (0.18; 0.10) [expected errors] mas
yr-1. If the star were at the distance of the SNR (taken here
to be 2.83 kpc), its velocity would be vb = -51 ± 1.5
km s-1. We also reconstruct the binary orbit that Tycho-G
should have followed if it were the surviving companion of SN 1572. We
redetermine the Ni abundance of this star and compare it with new
abundance data from stars of the Galactic disc, finding that [Ni/Fe] is
about 1.7σ above the Galactic trend. From the high velocity of
Tycho-G perpendicular to the Galactic plane ( - 90 ± 3 km
s-1 ≤ vb ≤ -45 ± 1 km s-1,
for the allowed range of distances to the star), its metallicity and its
Ni excess, we find the probability of it being a chance interloper to be
P ≲ 0.000 37 at most. The projected rotational velocity of the star
should be below current observational limits. The projected position of
Tycho-G is, within the uncertainties, consistent with the centroid of
the X-ray emission of Tycho's SNR; moreover, its brightness is generally
consistent with the post-explosion evolution of the luminosity of an SN
companion. Among the other 23 stars having V < 22 mag and located
within 42 arcsec from the X-ray centroid, only 4 are at distances
compatible with that of the SNR, and none of them shows any peculiarity.
Therefore, if even Tycho-G is not the surviving companion of SN 1572,
the absence of other viable candidates does favour the merging of two
white dwarfs as the producer of the SN.
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