RCW 86: A TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA IN A WIND-BLOWN BUBBLE

We report results from a multi-wavelength analysis of the Galactic supernova remnant RCW 86, the proposed remnant of the supernova of 185 A. D. We show new infrared observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, where the entire shell is detected at 24 and 22 mu m. We fit the infrared flux ratios with models of collisionally heated ambient dust, finding post-shock gas densities in the non-radiative shocks of 2.4 and 2.0 cm(-3) in the southwest (SW) and northwest (NW) portions of the remnant, respectively. The Balmer-dominated shocks around the periphery of the shell, large amount of iron in the X-ray-emitting ejecta, and lack of a compact remnant support a Type Ia origin for this remnant. From hydrodynamic simulations, the observed characteristics of RCW 86 are successfully reproduced by an off-center explosion in a low-density cavity carved by the progenitor system. This would make RCW 86 the first known case of a Type Ia supernova in a wind-blown bubble. The fast shocks (>3000 km s(-1)) observed in the northeast are propagating in the low-density bubble, where the shock is just beginning to encounter the shell, while the slower shocks elsewhere have already encountered the bubble wall. The diffuse nature of the synchrotron emission in the SW and NW is due to electrons that were accelerated early in the lifetime of the remnant, when the shock was still in the bubble. Electrons in a bubble could produce gamma rays by inverse-Compton scattering. The wind-blown bubble scenario requires a single-degenerate progenitor, which should leave behind a companion star.