A Morphological Study of the Supernova Remnant Rx J0852.0-4622 (Vela Jr.)

We conduct a multiwavelength morphological study of the Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) RX J0852.0-4622 (also known as Vela Jr., Vela Z, and G266.2−1.2). RX J0852.0-4622 is coincident with the edge of the larger Vela SNR causing confusion in the attribution of some filamentary structures to either RX J0852.0-4622 or its larger sibling. We find that the RX J0852.0-4622 radio-continuum emission can be characterized by a two-dimensional shell with a radius of 0 90 0 01 (or 11.8 0.6 pc at an assumed distance of 750 pc) centered at (l, b) = (133 08 0 01,−46 34 0 01) (or R.A. = 8h52m19 2, decl. = −46°20′24 0, J2000), consistent with X-ray and gamma-ray emission. Although [O iii] emission features are generally associated with the Vela SNR, one particular [O iii] emission feature, which we denote as "the Vela Claw," morphologically matches a molecular clump that is thought to have been stripped by the stellar progenitor of the RX J0852.0-4622 SNR. We argue that the Vela Claw feature is possibly associated with RX J0852.0-4622. Toward the northwestern edge of RX J0852.0-4622 , we find a flattening of the radio spectral index toward another molecular clump also thought to be associated with RX J0852.0-4622 . It is currently unclear whether this feature and the Vela Claw result from interactions between the RX J0852.0-4622 shock and interstellar medium gas.