The Puppis A supernova remnant: an early jet-driven neutron star kick followed by jittering jets

Abstract

We identify a point-symmetric morphology of three pairs of ears/clumps in the core-collapse supernova (CCSN) remnant (CCSNR) Puppis A, supporting the jittering jets explosion mechanism (JJEM). In the JJEM, the three pairs of jets that shaped the three pairs of ears/clumps in Puppis A are part of a large, about 10 to 30 pairs of jets that exploded Puppis A. Some similarities in morphological features between CCSNR Puppis A and three multipolar planetary nebulae considered to have been shaped by jets solidify the claim for shaping by jets. Puppis A has a prominent dipole structure, where one side is bright with a well-defined boundary, while the other is faint and defused. The neutron star (NS) remnant of Puppis A has a proper velocity, its natal kick velocity, in the opposite direction to the denser part of the dipole structure. We propose a new mechanism in the frame of the JJEM that imparts a natal kick to the NS, the kick-by-early asymmetrical pair (kick-BEAP) mechanism. At the early phase of the explosion process, the NS launches a pair of jets where one jet is much more energetic than the counter jet. The more energetic jet compresses a dense side to the CCSNR, and, by momentum conservation, the NS recoils in the opposite direction. Our study supports the JJEM as the primary explosion mechanism of CCSNe and enriches this explosion mechanism by introducing the novel kick-BEAP mechanism.