The dynamic evolution of the Kepler supernova remnant

Two supernovae exploding events were observed visually from the same position, the north of Tian-Jiang in Wei-Suei (the north of 42 Ophiuchi), in 1604 and 1664, respectively, and were recorded in the ancient astronomical literatures of China and Korea. However, in recent years only one supernova remnant (SNR) has been identified in this position using advanced optical, radio and X-ray techniques. Some observed information for the Kepler SNR, including its non-spherically symmetric emission property with brighter north but darker south, have been shown. We conjecture that a supernova outburst in 1664 was excited by the 1604 supernova explosion at a distance of about 0.5 parsecs. The present SNR is formed from the summation of these two explosions. The dynamical evolution of the Kepler SNR is studied by means of a time-dependent, hydrodynamic code in the present paper. The density, velocity, temperature, and X-ray emission distribution of the SNR are shown, being the results of dynamic evolution for 380 years following the explosion of the supernova in 1604. Compared with present radio and X-ray observations, these numerical results may reasonably explain the observational features.