TYCHO SN 1572: A NAKED Ia SUPERNOVA REMNANT WITHOUT AN ASSOCIATED AMBIENT MOLECULAR CLOUD

The historical supernova remnant (SNR) Tycho SN 1572 originates from the explosion of a normal Type Ia supernova that is believed to have originated from a carbon–oxygen white dwarf in a binary system. We analyze the 21 cm continuum, H i , and 12 CO-line data from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey in the direction of SN 1572 and the surrounding region. We construct H i absorption spectra to SN 1572 and three nearby compact sources. We conclude that SN 1572 has no molecular cloud interaction, which argues against previous claims that a molecular cloud is interacting with the SNR. This new result does not support a recent claim that dust, newly detected by AKARI, originates from such an SNR–cloud interaction. We suggest that the SNR has a kinematic distance of 2.5–3.0 kpc based on a nonlinear rotational curve model. Very high energy γ-ray emission from the remnant has been detected by the VERITAS telescope, so our result shows that its origin should not be an SNR–cloud interaction. Both radio and X-ray observations support that SN 1572 is an isolated Type Ia SNR.