Young core collapse supernova remnants and their supernovae

Abstract

Massive star supernovae can be divided into four categories depending on the amount of mass loss from the progenitor star and the star's radius: red supergiant stars with most of the H envelope intact (SN IIP), stars with some H but most lost (IIL, IIb), stars with all H lost (Ib, Ic), and blue supergiant stars with a massive H envelope (SN 1987A-like). Various aspects of the immediate aftermath of the supernova are expected to develop in different ways depending on the supernova category: mixing in the supernova, fallback on the central compact object, expansion of any pulsar wind nebula, interaction with circumstellar matter, and photoionization by shock breakout radiation. The observed properties of young supernova remnants allow many of them to be placed in one of the supernova categories; all the categories are represented except for the SN 1987A-like type. Of the remnants with central pulsars, the pulsar properties do not appear to be related to the supernova category. There is no evidence that the supernova categories form a mass sequence, as would be expected in a single star scenario for the evolution. Models for young pulsar wind nebulae expanding into supernova ejecta indicate initial pulsar periods of 10-100 ms and approximate equipartition between particle and magnetic energies. Ages are obtained for pulsar nebulae, including an age of 2400 pm 500 yr for 3C58, which is not consistent with an origin in SN 1181. There is no evidence that mass fallback plays a role in neutron star properties.