Oxygen-rich young supernova remnant in the small Magellanic Cloud

The second brightest X-ray source in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), 1E 0102.2--7219, has been identified as a bright, optically emitting supernova remnant (SNR) by means of narrow-band imaging with the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The remnant, centered at ..cap alpha.. = 01/sup h/02/sup m/25/sup s/.2; delta = -72/sup 0/18'00'' (1950), is invisible at H..cap alpha.. but prominent in its (O III) emission and so belongs to the class of young SNRs resulting from the explosion of a Population I type star. This is the first such remnant discovered in the SMC.