ABSTRACT The fraction of stars that are in binaries or triples at the time of stellar death and the fraction of these systems that survive the supernova explosion are crucial constraints for evolution models and predictions for gravitational wave source populations. These fractions are also subject to direct observational determination. Here, we search 10 supernova remnants containing compact objects with proper motions for unbound binaries or triples using Gaia EDR3 and new statistical methods and tests for false positives. We confirm the one known example of an unbound binary, HD 37424 in G180.0−01.7, and find no other examples. Combining this with our previous searches for bound and unbound binaries, and assuming no bias in favour of finding interacting binaries, we find that 72.0 per cent (52.2–86.4 per cent, 90 per cent confidence) of supernova producing neutron stars are not binaries at the time of explosion, 13.9 per cent (5.4–27.2 per cent) produce bound binaries, and 12.5 per cent (2.8–31.3 per cent) produce unbound binaries. With a strong bias in favour of finding interacting binaries, the medians shift to 76.0 per cent were not binaries at death, 9.5 per cent leave bound binaries, and 13.2 per cent leave unbound binaries. Of explosions that do not leave binaries, ${\lt}18.9{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ can be fully unbound triples. These limits are conservatively for $M\gt 5\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ companions, although the mass limits for some individual systems are significantly stronger. At birth, the progenitor of PSR J0538+2817 was probably a 13–$19\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ star, and at the time of explosion, it was probably a Roche limited, partially stripped star transferring mass to HD 37424 and then producing a Type IIL or IIb supernova.
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The progenitor of the Vela pulsar
With Gaia parallaxes, it is possible to study the stellar populations associated with individual Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) to estimate the mass of the exploding star. Here, we analyse the luminous stars near the Vela pulsar and SNR to find that its progenitor was probably ($\mathrel {\raise.3ex\rm{\gt }\lower0.6ex\rm{\sim }}90\rm \,per\,cent$) low mass (8.1–$10.3\, {\rm M}_\odot$). The presence of the O star γ2 Vel a little over 100 pc from Vela is the primary ambiguity, as including it in the analysis volume significantly increases the probability (to 5 per cent) of higher mass ($\gt 20\, {\rm M}_\odot$) progenitors. However, to be a high-mass star associated with γ2 Vel’s star cluster at birth, the progenitor would have to be a runaway star from an unbound binary with an unusually high velocity. The primary impediment to analysing large numbers of Galactic SNRs in this manner is the lack of accurate distances. This can likely be solved by searching for absorption lines from the SNR in stars as a function of distance, a method which yielded a distance to Vela in agreement with the direct pulsar parallax. If Vela was a $10\, {\rm M}_\odot$ supernova in an external galaxy, the 50-pc search region used in extragalactic studies would contain only $\simeq 10\rm \,per\,cent$ of the stars formed in a 50-pc region around the progenitor at birth and $\simeq 90\rm \,per\,cent$ of the stars in the search region would have been born elsewhere.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1814440
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10363310
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 511
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 3428-3439
- Size(s):
- ["p. 3428-3439"]
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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