X-RAY EMISSION FROM STRONGLY ASYMMETRIC CIRCUMSTELLAR MATERIAL IN THE REMNANT OF KEPLER'S SUPERNOVA

Kepler's supernova remnant resulted from a thermonuclear explosion, but is interacting with circumstellar material (CSM) lost from the progenitor system. We describe a statistical technique for isolating X-ray emission due to CSM from that due to shocked ejecta. Shocked CSM coincides well in position with 24 μm emission seen by Spitzer. We find most CSM to be distributed along the bright north rim, but substantial concentrations are also found projected against the center of the remnant, roughly along a diameter with position angle ∼100°. We interpret this as evidence for a disk distribution of CSM before the supernova, with the line of sight to the observer roughly in the disk plane. We present two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of this scenario in qualitative agreement with the observed CSM morphology. Our observations require Kepler to have originated in a close binary system with an asymptotic giant branch star companion.