A Chandra X-ray Study of Supernova Remnant N63A in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We perform extensive spectroscopy of the supernova remnant N63A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using \(\sim 43\) ks {\it Chandra} archival data. By analysing the spectra of the entire remnant, we determine the abundance distributions for O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe. We detect evidence of enhanced O and possibly Ne and Mg in some of the central regions which might indicate an asymmetric distribution of the ejecta. The average O/Ne, O/Mg, and Ne/Mg abundance ratios of the ejecta are in plausible agreement with the nucleosynthesis products from the explosion of a \(\sim40\) \(M_{\odot}\) progenitor. We estimate an upper limit on the Sedov age of \(\sim 5,400\pm200\) yr and explosion energy of \(\sim 8.9\pm 1.6\times 10^{51}\) erg for N63A. We discuss the implications of our results for the morphological structure of the remnant, its circumstellar medium and the nature of the progenitor star.