UCL Discovery Stage
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery Stage

Mid-infrared imaging of Supernova 1987A

Matsuura, Mikako; Wesson, Roger; Arendt, Richard G; Dwek, Eli; De Buizer, James M; Danziger, John; Bouchet, Patrice; ... Meixner, Margaret; + view all (2022) Mid-infrared imaging of Supernova 1987A. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 517 (3) pp. 4327-4336. 10.1093/mnras/stac3036. Green open access

[thumbnail of Barlow_Mid-infrared imaging of Supernova 1987A_VoR.pdf]
Preview
Text
Barlow_Mid-infrared imaging of Supernova 1987A_VoR.pdf

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

At a distance of 50 kpc, Supernova 1987A is an ideal target to study how a young supernova (SN) evolves in time. Its equatorial ring, filled with material expelled from the progenitor star about 20 000 yr ago, has been engulfed with SN blast waves. Shocks heat dust grains in the ring, emitting their energy at mid-infrared (IR) wavelengths We present ground-based 10-18 μm monitoring of the ring of SN 1987A from day 6067 to 12814 at a resolution of 0.5 arcsec, together with SOFIA photometry at 10-30 μm. The IR images in the 2000's (day 6067-7242) showed that the shocks first began brightening the east side of the ring. Later, our mid-IR images from 2017 to 2022 (day 10952-12714) show that dust emission is now fading in the east, while it has brightened on the west side of the ring. Because dust grains are heated in the shocked plasma, which can emit X-rays, the IR and X-ray brightness ratio represent shock diagnostics. Until 2007 the IR to X-ray brightness ratio remained constant over time, and during this time shocks seemed to be largely influencing the east side of the ring. However, since then, the IR to X-ray ratio has been declining, due to increased X-ray brightness. Whether the declining IR brightness is because of dust grains being destroyed or being cooled in the post-shock regions will require more detailed modelling.

Type: Article
Title: Mid-infrared imaging of Supernova 1987A
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac3036
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac3036
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
Keywords: (stars:) supernovae: individual: Supernova 1987A, ISM: supernova remnants, ISM: dust, (stars:) circumstellar matter, infrared: stars, infrared: ISM
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10168427
Downloads since deposit
410Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item