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Recent X-ray studies revealed over-ionized recombining plasmas (RPs) in a dozen mixed-morphology (MM) supernova remnants (SNRs). However, the physical process of the over-ionization has not been fully understood yet. Here we report on spatially resolved spectroscopy of X-ray emission from W44, one of the over-ionized MM-SNRs, using XMM-Newton data from deep observations, aiming to clarify the physical origin of the over-ionization. We find that combination of low electron temperature and low recombination timescale is achieved in the region interacting with dense molecular clouds. Moreover, a clear anti-correlation between the electron temperature and the recombining timescale is obtained from each of the regions with and without the molecular clouds. The results are well explained if the plasma was over-ionized by rapid cooling through thermal conduction with the dense clouds hit by the blast wave of W44. Given that a few other over-ionized SNRs show evidence for adiabatic expansion as the major driver of the rapid cooling, our new result indicates that both processes can contribute to over-ionization in SNRs, with the dominant channel depending on the evolutionary stage., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures Accepted for publication in ApJ

We perform three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of aspherical core-collapse supernovae focusing on the matter mixing in SN 1987A. The impacts of four progenitor (pre-supernova) models and parameterized aspherical explosions are investigated. The four pre-supernova models include a blue supergiant (BSG) model based on a slow merger scenario developed recently for the progenitor of SN 1987A (Urushibata et al. 2018). The others are a BSG model based on a single star evolution and two red supergiant (RSG) models. Among the investigated explosion (simulation) models, a model with the binary merger progenitor model and with an asymmetric bipolar-like explosion, which invokes a jetlike explosion, best reproduces constraints on the mass of high velocity $^{56}$Ni, as inferred from the observed [Fe II] line profiles. The advantage of the binary merger progenitor model for the matter mixing is the flat and less extended $\rho \,r^3$ profile of the C+O core and the helium layer, which may be characterized by the small helium core mass. From the best explosion model, the direction of the bipolar explosion axis (the strongest explosion direction), the neutron star (NS) kick velocity, and its direction are predicted. Other related implications and future prospects are also given., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, 62 pages, 26 figures, 3 tables

Magnetars are regarded as the most magnetized neutron stars in the Universe. Aiming to unveil what kinds of stars and supernovae can create magnetars, we have performed a state-of-the-art spatially resolved spectroscopic X-ray study of the supernova remnants (SNRs) Kes 73, RCW 103, and N49, which host magnetars 1E 1841-045, 1E 161348-5055, and SGR 0526-66, respectively. The three SNRs are O- and Ne-enhanced and are evolving in the interstellar medium with densities of >1--2 cm$^{-3}$. The metal composition and dense environment indicate that the progenitor stars are not very massive. The progenitor masses of the three magnetars are constrained to be < 20 Msun (11--15 Msun for Kes 73, < 13 Msun for RCW 103, and ~13 --17 Msun for N49). Our study suggests that magnetars are not necessarily made from very massive stars, but originate from stars that span a large mass range. The explosion energies of the three SNRs range from $10^{50}$ erg to ~2$\times 10^{51}$ erg, further refuting that the SNRs are energized by rapidly rotating (millisecond) pulsars. We report that RCW 103 is produced by a weak supernova explosion with significant fallback, as such an explosion explains the low explosion energy (~$10^{50}$ erg), small observed metal masses ($M_{\rm O}\sim 4\times 10^{-2}$ Msun and $M_{\rm Ne}\sim 6\times 10^{-3}$ Msun), and sub-solar abundances of heavier elements such as Si and S. Our study supports the fossil field origin as an important channel to produce magnetars, given the normal mass range ($M_{\rm ZAMS} < 20$ Msun) of the progenitor stars, the low-to-normal explosion energy of the SNRs, and the fact that the fraction of SNRs hosting magnetars is consistent with the magnetic OB stars with high fields., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, published in A&A

Astrophysical shocks at all scales, from those in the heliosphere up to the cosmological shock waves, are typically "collisionless", because the thickness of their jump region is much shorter than the collisional mean free path. Across these jumps, electrons, protons, and ions are expected to be heated at different temperatures. Supernova remnants (SNRs) are ideal targets to study collisionless processes because of their bright post-shock emission and fast shocks. Although optical observations of Balmer-dominated shocks in young SNRs showed that the post-shock proton temperature is higher than the electron temperature, the actual dependence of the post-shock temperature on the particle mass is still widely debated. We tackle this longstanding issue through the analysis of deep multi-epoch and high-resolution observations of the youngest nearby supernova remnant, SN 1987A, made with the Chandra X-ray telescope. We introduce a novel data analysis method by studying the observed spectra in close comparison with a dedicated full 3-D hydrodynamic simulation. The simulation is able to reproduce self-consistently the whole broadening of the spectral lines of many ions altogether. We can therefore measure the post shock temperature of protons and selected ions through comparison of the model with observations. We have obtained information about the heating processes in collisional shocks by finding that the ion to proton temperature ratio is always significantly higher than one and increases linearly with the ion mass for a wide range of masses and shock parameters., Comment: The final version of this manuscript (including Methods) is published in Nature Astronomy and is publicly available at this link: https://rdcu.be/bhO7Z

We present ~400ks NuSTAR observations of the northeast (NE) and southwest (SW) non-thermal limbs of the Galactic SNR SN1006. We discovered three sources with X-ray emission detected at >50keV. Two of them are identified as background AGN. We extract the NuSTAR spectra from a few regions along the non-thermal limbs and jointly analyze them with the XMM-Newton spectra and the radio data. The broad-band radio/X-ray spectra can be well described with a synchrotron emission model from a single population of CR electrons with a power law energy distribution and an exponential cutoff. The power law index of the electron particle distribution function (PDF) is ~1.88-1.95 for both the NE and SW limbs, and we do not find significant evidence for a variation of this index at different energy (curvature). There are significant spatial variations of the synchrotron emission parameters. The highest energy electrons are accelerated in regions with the lowest expansion velocity, which is opposite to what has been found in the Tycho's SNR. In addition to a gradual steepening of synchrotron emission from the center of the non-thermal limbs to larger azimuthal angles, we also find that both the emission spectrum and the PDF are significantly flatter in three regions in the SW limb where the shock encounters higher density ambient medium. The NE limb also shows significantly higher cutoff energy in the PDF than the SW limb. By comparing with the roughly symmetric TeV emission and largely asymmetric GeV emission from the two non-thermal limbs, we conclude that the asymmetry in the ambient medium and magnetic fields may have largely modified the acceleration and emission of CR leptons., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, 7 tables, ApJ in press

IC443 is a supernova remnant located in a quite complex environment since it interacts with nearby clouds. Indications for the presence of overionized plasma have been found though the possible physical causes of overionization are still debated. Moreover, because of its peculiar position and proper motion, it is not clear if the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) within the remnant is the relic of the IC443 progenitor star or just a rambling one seen in projection on the remnant. Here we address the study of IC443 plasma in order to clarify the relationship PWN-remnant, the presence of overionization and the origin of the latter. We analyzed two \emph{XMM-Newton} observations producing background-subtracted, vignetting-corrected and mosaicked images in two different energy bands and we performed a spatially resolved spectral analysis of the X-ray emission. We identified an elongated (jet-like) structure with Mg-rich plasma in overionization. The head of the jet is interacting with a molecular cloud and the jet is aligned with the position of the PWN at the instant of the supernova explosion. Interestingly, the direction of the jet of ejecta is somehow consistent with the direction of the PWN jet. Our discovery of a jet of ejecta in IC443 enlarge the sample of core-collapse SNRs with collimated ejecta structures. IC443's jet is the first one which shows overionized plasma, possibly associated with the adiabatic expansion of ejecta. The match between the jet's direction and the original position of the PWN strongly supports the association between the neutron star and IC443., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

Molecular clouds are predicted to emit nonthermal X-rays when they are close to particle-accelerating supernova remnants (SNRs), and the hard X-ray source AX J1714.1-3912, near the SNR RX J1713.7-3946, has long been considered a candidate for diffuse nonthermal emission associated with cosmic rays diffusing from the remnant to a closeby molecular cloud. We aim at ascertaining the nature of this source by analyzing two dedicated X-ray observations performed with Suzaku and Chandra. We extracted images from the data in various energy bands, spectra, and light curves and studied the long-term evolution of the X-ray emission on the basis of the ~4.5 yr time separation between the two observations. We found that there is no diffuse emission associated with AX J1714.1-3912, which is instead the point-like source CXOU J171343.9-391205. We discovered rapid time variability (timescale ~1 ks), together with a high intrinsic absorption and a hard nonthermal spectrum (power law with photon index Gamma~1.4). We also found that the X-ray flux of the source drops down by 1-2 orders of magnitude on a timescale of a few years. Our results suggest a possible association between AX J1714.1-3912 and a previously unknown supergiant fast X-ray transient, although further follow-up observations are necessary to prove this association definitively., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The new version includes a note after acceptance

Based on the XMM-Newton large program on SN1006 and our newly developed spatially resolved spectroscopy tools (Paper~I), we study the thermal emission from ISM and ejecta of SN1006 by analyzing the spectra extracted from 583 tessellated regions dominated by thermal emission. With some key improvements in spectral analysis as compared to Paper~I, we obtain much better spectral fitting results with less residuals. The spatial distributions of the thermal and ionization states of the ISM and ejecta show different features, which are consistent with a scenario that the ISM (ejecta) is heated and ionized by the forward (reverse) shock propagating outward (inward). Different elements have different spatial distributions and origins, with Ne mostly from the ISM, Si and S from the ejecta, and O and Mg from both ISM and ejecta. Fe L-shell lines are only detected in a small shell-like region SE to the center of SN1006, indicating that most of the Fe-rich ejecta has not yet or just recently been reached by the reverse shock. The overall ejecta abundance patterns for most of the heavy elements, except for Fe and sometimes S, are consistent with typical Type~Ia SN products. The NW half of the SNR interior probably represents a region with turbulently mixed ISM and ejecta, so has enhanced emission from O, Mg, Si, S, lower ejecta temperature, and a large diversity of ionization age. In addition to the asymmetric ISM distribution, an asymmetric explosion of the progenitor star is also needed to explain the asymmetric ejecta distribution., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, MNRAS in press