Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T22:57:02.872Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Infrared Observations of SN 1987A: Probing the Ejecta and its Surrounding Medium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2016

E. Dwek*
Affiliation:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Abstract

The extremely rare occurrence of a relatively nearby supernova, SN 1987A, provides astronomers with a unique opportunity to conduct the most detailed multi-wavelength analysis of this event and its effect on the ambient medium. Looking inside the supernova, astronomers are getting their first ‘unbiased’ view of the composition of the expanding ejecta. The infrared (IR) region of the spectrum can carry the signature of products ranging from heavy elements, synthesised during the early phases of the expansion, to molecules and dust formed after the ejecta underwent significant cooling. Probing the ambient medium, IR observers can gain information on the presence and distribution of dust in close proximity (∼1 pc) to the supernova (SN), and on the interaction of the SN blast wave with the surrounding dusty medium. At larger distances from the SN, they can set constraints on dust properties in the scattering dust layers detected at distances of ∼120 and ∼330 pc from the supernova.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aitken, D.K., Smith, C.H., James, S.D., Roche, P.F., Hyland, A.R., McGregor, P.J. 1988a, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 231, 7p.Google Scholar
Aitken, D.K., Smith, C.H., James, S.D., Roche, P.F., Hyland, A.R., McGregor, P.J. 1988b, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. submitted.Google Scholar
Allen, D.A., Meikle, W.P.S., Spyromilio, J., Varani, G-F. 1988, private communication.Google Scholar
Chevalier, R.A. 1987, in Proc. ESO Workshop on SN 1987A, ed. Danziger, I.J. (Garching: ESO), p.481.Google Scholar
Chevalier, R.A., Emmering, R.T. 1988, Astrophys. J. Lett, (in press).Google Scholar
Crotts, A. 1988, IAU Circ. #4561.Google Scholar
Danziger, I.J., Bouchet, P., Fosbury, R.A.E., Gouiffes, C, Lucy, L.B., Moorwood, A.F.M., Oliva, E., Rufener, F. 1988, in Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, eds. Kafatos, M. and Michalit-sianos, A.G. (C.U.P.) p.37.Google Scholar
Dwek, E. 1983, Astrophys. J. Lett. 274, 175.Google Scholar
Dwek, E. 1983, Astrophys. J. Lett. 297, 719.Google Scholar
Dwek, E. 1988a, Astrophys. J. Lett. 329, 814.Google Scholar
Dwek, E. 1988b, in Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, eds. Kafatos, M. and Michalit-sianos, A.G. (C.U.P.) p.240.Google Scholar
Dwek, E., Feiten, J.E. 1988, Astrophys. J. Lett, (submitted).Google Scholar
Elias, J.H., Gregory, B., Phillips, M.M., Williams, R.E., Graham, J.R., Meikle, W.P.S., Schwartz, R.D., Wilk-ing, B. 1988, Astrophys. J. Lett. 331, L9.Google Scholar
Emmering, R.T. Chevalier, R.A. 1988, Astrophys. J. Lett. (submitted).Google Scholar
Feast, M.W. 1988, in Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, eds. Kafatos, M. and Michal-itsianos, A.G. (C.U.P.) p.51.Google Scholar
Gehrz, R.D., Grasdalen, G.L., Hackwell, J.A., Ney, E.P. 1980, Astrophys. J. Lett. 237, 855.Google Scholar
Gehrz, R.D., Ney, E.P. 1987, Pub. Nat. Acad. Sci. 84, 6961.Google Scholar
Harvey, P.M., Lester, D., Joy, M. 1987, IAU Circ. #4518.Google Scholar
Heathcote, S., Suntzeff, N. 1988, IAU Circ. #4567.Google Scholar
Kirshner, R.P. 1988, in Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, eds. Kafatos, M. and Michal-itsianos, A.G. (C.U.P.) p.87.Google Scholar
McGregor, P.J., Hyland, A.R. 1987, IAU Circ. #4468.Google Scholar
McGregor, P.J., Hyland, A.R., Ashley, M.C.B., Straw, S. 1988 (in prep.).Google Scholar
Moseley, S.H., Dwek, E., Silverberg, R.F., Glaccum, W.J., Graham, J.R., Loewenstein, R.F. 1988a, (in prep.).Google Scholar
Moseley, S.H., Dwek, E., Silverberg, R.F., Glaccum, W.J., Graham, J.R., Loewenstein, R.F. 1988b (in prep.).Google Scholar
Petuchowski, S.J., Dwek, E., Allen, J.E. Jr., Nuth, J.A. III 1988 (in prep.).Google Scholar
Rank, D.M., Pinto, P.A., Woosley, S.E., Bregman, J.D., Witteborn, F.C., Axelrod, T.S., Cohen, M. 1988, Nature 331, 505.Google Scholar
Rosa, M. 1988, IAU Circ. #4564.Google Scholar
Schaefer, B.E. 1987, Astrophys. J. Lett. 323, L47.Google Scholar
Spyromilio, J., Meikle, W.P.S., Learner, R.C.M., Allen, D.A. 1988, Nature (in press).Google Scholar
Whitelock, P.A. et al. 1988, preprint.Google Scholar
Witteborn, F., Bregman, J., Wooden 1988, IAU Circ. #4592.Google Scholar
Woosley, S.E. 1988, Astrophys. J. Lett. 330, 218.Google Scholar