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The Oxygen 1.13 µm Fluorescence Line of SN 1987A: a Diagnostic for the Ejecta of Hydrogen-Rich Supernovae

from SN 1987A, SN 1993J, and Other Supernovae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2010

E. Oliva
Affiliation:
Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, Italy
Richard McCray
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Boulder
ZhenRu Wang
Affiliation:
Nanjing University, China
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Summary

The bright O I λ11287 line observed in SN1987A is produced by the Bowen fluorescence with Lyβ and comes from regions that lie within a Sobolev length (δR ∼ 10−3RSN, the maximum distance over which fluorescence can work) from hydrogen rich gas ionized by the 56Co decay. Its strength relative to hydrogen lines (e.g. Brγ) depends on the O/H relative abundance in the ‘fluorescent region’ and on the density (i.e. the filling factor) of the gas. The observed evolution of λ11287 can be successfully understood using a relatively simple theory which takes into account the effects of transfer in the O I lines and is the generalization of the classical theory of Bowen fluorescence.

The most important result is that the time evolution of the relative intensities and profiles of O Iλ11287 and Brγ is a powerful diagnostic to determine:

  1. – The filling factor of the hydrogen rich gas;

  2. – The pre-SN O/H relative abundance;

  3. – The amount of small scale mixing between hydrogen and oxygen rich regions and its radial stratification.

In SN1987A the results are the following:

  1. –Inside 2000 km/s the hydrogen rich material is clumped with f ≃ 0.1

  2. – Outside 2000 km/s the gas has f ≃ 1 and the oxygen relative abundance is quite low: O/H≃ 5 × 10−5, indicating that only the pre-SN oxygen is fluorescently coupled with hydrogen.

  3. […]

Type
Chapter
Information
Supernovae and Supernova Remnants
IAU Colloquium 145
, pp. 235 - 240
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1996

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