An oxygen-rich young supernova remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

The second brightest X-ray source in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), 1E 0102.2-7219, has been identified as a bright, optically emitting supernova remnant (SNR) by means of narrow-band imaging with the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The remnant, centered at alpha = 01h02m25.25; delta = -72 deg 18 arcmin (1950), is invisible at H alpha but prominent in its O III forbidden line emission and so belongs to the class of young SNRs resulting from the explosion of a Population I type star. This is the first such remnant discovered in the SMC.