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Register a new userDetection of Pristine Circumstellar Material of the Cassiopeia A Supernova
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Cassiopeia A is a nearby young supernova remnant that provides a unique laboratory for the study of core-collapse supernova explosions. Cassiopeia A is known to be a Type IIb supernova from the optical spectrum of its light echo, but the immediate progenitor of the supernova remains uncertain. Here we report results of near-infrared, high-resolution spectroscopic observations of Cassiopeia A where we detected the pristine circumstellar material of the supernova progenitor. Our observations revealed a strong emission line of iron (Fe) from a circumstellar clump that has not yet been processed by the supernova shock wave. A comprehensive analysis of the observed spectra, together with an HST image, indicates that the majority of Fe in this unprocessed circumstellar material is in the gas phase, not depleted onto dust grains as in the general interstellar medium. This result is consistent with a theoretical model of dust condensation in material that is heavily enriched with CNO-cycle products, supporting the idea that the clump originated near the He core of the progenitor. It has been recently found that Type IIb supernovae can result from the explosion of a blue supergiant with a thin hydrogen envelope, and our results support such a scenario for Cassiopeia A.
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We have conducted a large-field simultaneous survey of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O $J=1-0$ emission toward the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant (SNR), which covers a sky area of $3.5^{circ}times3.1^{circ}$. The Cas giant molecular cloud (GMC) mainly consists of three individual clouds with masses on the order of $10^4-10^5 M_{odot}$. The total mass derived from the $rm{^{13}CO}$ emission of the GMC is 2.1$times10^{5} M_{odot}$ and is 9.5$times10^5 M_{odot}$ from the $rm{^{12}CO}$ emission. Two regions with broadened (6$-$7 km s$^{-1}$) or asymmetric $^{12}$CO line profiles are found in the vicinity (within a 10$times10$ region) of the Cas A SNR, indicating possible interactions between the SNR and the GMC. Using the GAUSSCLUMPS algorithm, 547 $^{13}$CO clumps are identified in the GMC, 54$%$ of which are supercritical (i.e. $alpha_{rm{vir}}<2$). The mass spectrum of the molecular clumps follows a power-law distribution with an exponent of $-2.20$. The pixel-by-pixel column density of the GMC can be fitted with a log-normal probability distribution function (N-PDF). The median column density of molecular hydrogen in the GMC is $1.6times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$ and half the mass of the GMC is contained in regions with H$_2$ column density lower than $3times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$, which is well below the threshold of star formation. The distribution of the YSO candidates in the region shows no agglomeration.
The death of massive stars is believed to involve aspheric explosions initiated by the collapse of an iron core. The specifics of how these catastrophic explosions proceed remain uncertain due, in part, to limited observational constraints on various processes that can introduce asymmetries deep inside the star. Here we present near-infrared observations of the young Milky Way supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, descendant of a type IIb core-collapse explosion, and a three-dimensional map of its interior, unshocked ejecta. The remnants interior has a bubble-like morphology that smoothly connects to and helps explain the multi-ringed structures seen in the remnants bright reverse shocked main shell of expanding debris. This internal structure may have originated from turbulent mixing processes that encouraged the development of outwardly expanding plumes of radioactive 56Ni-rich ejecta. If this is true, substantial amounts of its decay product, 56Fe, may still reside in these interior cavities.
Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is one of the best studied young Galactic supernova remnants. While providing a rare opportunity to study in detail the remnant of a Type IIb supernova, questions remain regarding the nature of its progenitor, its mass-loss history, and its pre-SN evolution. Here we present an optical investigation of the circumstellar environment around Cas A and find clumpy and filamentary Halpha emission nebulosities concentrated 10-15 pc (10-15 arcminutes) to the north and east. First reported by Minkowski as a faint H II region, these nebulosities exhibit distinct morphological and spectroscopic properties relative to the surrounding diffuse emissions. Compared to neighboring H II regions, these nebulae show stronger [N II] 6548, 6583 A and [S II] 6716, 6731 A emissions relative to Halpha. We show that Cas As highest-velocity ejecta knots are interacting with some of the closest projected emission nebulae, thus providing strong evidence that these nebulae lie at the same distance as the remnant. We interpret these surrounding nebulosities to be the remains of the progenitors red supergiant wind which accumulated against the southern edge of a large extended H II region located north of Cas A. Our findings are consistent with the view that Cas As progenitor underwent considerable mass-loss, first from a fast main-sequence wind, then from a slower, clumpy red supergiant wind, and finally from a brief high-velocity wind, like that from a yellow supergiant.
We present photometry, spectra, and spectropolarimetry of supernova (SN) 2012ab, mostly obtained over the course of $sim 300$ days after discovery. SN 2012ab was a Type IIn (SN IIn) event discovered near the nucleus of spiral galaxy 2MASXJ12224762+0536247. While its light curve resembles that of SN 1998S, its spectral evolution does not. We see indications of CSM interaction in the strong intermediate-width emission features, the high luminosity (peak at absolute magnitude $M=-19.5$), and the lack of broad absorption features in the spectrum. The H$alpha$ emission undergoes a peculiar transition. At early times it shows a broad blue emission wing out to $-14{,}000$ km $mathrm{s^{-1}}$ and a truncated red wing. Then at late times ($>$ 100$,$days) it shows a truncated blue wing and a very broad red emission wing out to roughly $+20{,}000$ km $mathrm{s^{-1}}$. This late-time broad red wing probably arises in the reverse shock. Spectra also show an asymmetric intermediate-width H$alpha$ component with stronger emission on the red side at late times. The evolution of the asymmetric profiles requires a density structure in the distant CSM that is highly aspherical. Our spectropolarimetric data also suggest asphericity with a strong continuum polarization of $sim 1-3$% and depolarization in the H$alpha$ line, indicating asphericity in the CSM at a level comparable to that in other SNe IIn. We estimate a mass-loss rate of $dot{M} = 0.050, {rm M}_{odot},mathrm{yr^{-1}}$ for $v_{rm pre} = 100$$,$km$,$$mathrm{s^{-1}}$ extending back at least 75$,$yr prior to the SN. The strong departure from axisymmetry in the CSM of SN 2012ab may suggest that the progenitor was an eccentric binary system undergoing eruptive mass loss.
We present multiwavelength observations of the Type II SN 2020pni. Classified at $sim 1.3$ days after explosion, the object showed narrow (FWHM $<250,textrm{km},textrm{s}^{-1}$) recombination lines of ionized helium, nitrogen, and carbon, as typically seen in flash-spectroscopy events. Using the non-LTE radiative transfer code CMFGEN to model our first high resolution spectrum, we infer a progenitor mass-loss rate of $dot{M}=(3.5-5.3)times10^{-3}$ M$_{odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ (assuming a wind velocity of $v_w=200,textrm{km},textrm{s}^{-1}$), estimated at a radius of $R_{rm in}=2.5times10^{14},rm{cm}$. In addition, we find that the progenitor of SN 2020pni was enriched in helium and nitrogen (relative abundances in mass fractions of 0.30$-$0.40, and $8.2times10^{-3}$, respectively). Radio upper limits are also consistent with a dense CSM, and a mass-loss rate of $dot M>5 times 10^{-4},rm{M_{odot},yr^{-1}}$. During the first 4 days after first light, we also observe an increase in velocity of the hydrogen lines (from $sim 250,textrm{km},textrm{s}^{-1}$ to $sim 1000,textrm{km},textrm{s}^{-1}$), which suggests a complex CSM. The presence of dense and confined CSM, as well as its inhomogeneous structure, suggest a phase of enhanced mass loss of the progenitor of SN 2020pni during the last year before explosion. Finally, we compare SN 2020pni to a sample of other shock-photoionization events. We find no evidence of correlations among the physical parameters of the explosions and the characteristics of the CSM surrounding the progenitors of these events. This favors the idea that the mass-loss experienced by massive stars during their final years could be governed by stochastic phenomena, and that, at the same time, the physical mechanisms responsible for this mass-loss must be common to a variety of different progenitors.
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