Thermal Evolution of the Central Star in Pa 30

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Piro, Anthony L., Zenati, Yossef, Wong, Tin Long Sunny
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Piro, Anthony L.
Zenati, Yossef
Wong, Tin Long Sunny
author_facet Piro, Anthony L.
Zenati, Yossef
Wong, Tin Long Sunny
contents Pa 30 has been identified as the nebular remnant of the historical SN 1181. It is host to a hot ($\approx200,000\,{\rm K}$) central star (WD J005311) with a fast wind ($\approx16,000\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}}$) radiating at roughly the Eddington luminosity for a solar mass ($\approx1.5\times10^{38}\,{\rm erg\,s^{-1}}$). We explore the thermal evolution of this star to understand how it progressed toward the state it is observed as today as well as to constrain its underlying physical properties. We develop a semi-analytic two-component model, which approximates the central star as a hot radiating envelope contracting and cooling above a relatively cool core. Comparing this model with the observed luminosity and radius requires a core mass $M_c\approx1.15-1.4\,M_\odot$ with a core radius $R_c\approx(6-8)\times10^8\,M_\odot$, and a hot envelope mass $ΔM\approx0.02-0.04\,M_\odot$. The small envelope mass is the best constrained of these parameters due to the need to reach the observed radius of $\approx0.15\,R_\odot$ in a timescale of $\approx845\,{\rm yrs}$. These results favor a picture where SN 1181 involved the merger of O/Ne and C/O white dwarfs, and where the majority of the latter was ejected in the explosion. We also explore which models ignite carbon burning at the base of the hot envelope, demonstrating that this is possible but not necessarily required to explain the current thermal state of the central star.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_11190
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Thermal Evolution of the Central Star in Pa 30
Piro, Anthony L.
Zenati, Yossef
Wong, Tin Long Sunny
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Pa 30 has been identified as the nebular remnant of the historical SN 1181. It is host to a hot ($\approx200,000\,{\rm K}$) central star (WD J005311) with a fast wind ($\approx16,000\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}}$) radiating at roughly the Eddington luminosity for a solar mass ($\approx1.5\times10^{38}\,{\rm erg\,s^{-1}}$). We explore the thermal evolution of this star to understand how it progressed toward the state it is observed as today as well as to constrain its underlying physical properties. We develop a semi-analytic two-component model, which approximates the central star as a hot radiating envelope contracting and cooling above a relatively cool core. Comparing this model with the observed luminosity and radius requires a core mass $M_c\approx1.15-1.4\,M_\odot$ with a core radius $R_c\approx(6-8)\times10^8\,M_\odot$, and a hot envelope mass $ΔM\approx0.02-0.04\,M_\odot$. The small envelope mass is the best constrained of these parameters due to the need to reach the observed radius of $\approx0.15\,R_\odot$ in a timescale of $\approx845\,{\rm yrs}$. These results favor a picture where SN 1181 involved the merger of O/Ne and C/O white dwarfs, and where the majority of the latter was ejected in the explosion. We also explore which models ignite carbon burning at the base of the hot envelope, demonstrating that this is possible but not necessarily required to explain the current thermal state of the central star.
title Thermal Evolution of the Central Star in Pa 30
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.11190