Asymmetries of Heavy Elements in the Young Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

Understand

Supernova remnants (SNRs) offer the means to study supernovae (SNe) long after the original explosion and can provide a unique insight into the mechanism that governs these energetic events.

• In this work, we examine the morphologies of X-ray emission from different elements found in the youngest known core-collapse (CC) SNR in the Milky Way, Cassiopeia A.
• The heaviest elements exhibit the highest levels of asymmetry, which we relate to the burning process that created the elements and their proximity to the center of explosion.
• Our findings support recent model predictions that the material closest to the source of explosion will reflect the asymmetries inherent to the SN mechanism.