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Register a new userEvolution of the Reverse Shock Emission from SNR 1987A
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We present new (2004 July) G750L and G140L Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) data of the H-alpha and Ly-alpha emission from supernova remnant (SNR) 1987A. With the aid of earlier data, from Oct 1997 to Oct 2002, we track the local evolution of Ly-alpha emission and both the local and global evolution of H-alpha emission. In addition to emission which we can clearly attribute to the surface of the reverse shock, we also measure comparable emission, in both H-alpha and Ly-alpha, which appears to emerge from supernova debris interior to the surface. New observations taken through slits positioned slightly eastward and westward of a central slit show a departure from cylindrical symmetry in the H-alpha surface emission. Using a combination of old and new observations, we construct a light curve of the total H-alpha flux, F, from the reverse shock, which has increased by a factor ~ 4 over about 8 years. However, due to large systematic uncertainties, we are unable to discern between the two limiting behaviours of the flux - F ~ t (self-similar expansion) and F ~ t^5 (halting of the reverse shock). Such a determination is relevant to the question of whether the reverse shock emission will vanish in less than about 7 years (Smith et al. 2005). Future deep, low- or moderate-resolution spectra are essential for accomplishing this task.
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We present the most sensitive ultraviolet observations of Supernova 1987A to date. Imaging spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope-Cosmic Origins Spectrograph shows many narrow (dv sim 300 km/s) emission lines from the circumstellar ring, broad (dv sim 10 -- 20 x 10^3 km/s) emission lines from the reverse shock, and ultraviolet continuum emission. The high signal-to-noise (> 40 per resolution element) broad LyA emission is excited by soft X-ray and EUV heating of mostly neutral gas in the circumstellar ring and outer supernova debris. The ultraviolet continuum at lambda > 1350A can be explained by HI 2-photon emission from the same region. We confirm our earlier, tentative detection of NV lambda 1240 emission from the reverse shock and we present the first detections of broad HeII lambda1640, CIV lambda1550, and NIV] lambda1486 emission lines from the reverse shock. The helium abundance in the high-velocity material is He/H = 0.14 +/- 0.06. The NV/H-alpha line ratio requires partial ion-electron equilibration (T_{e}/T_{p} approx 0.14 - 0.35). We find that the N/C abundance ratio in the gas crossing the reverse shock is significantly higher than that in the circumstellar ring, a result that may be attributed to chemical stratification in the outer envelope of the supernova progenitor. The N/C abundance ratio may have been stratified prior to the ring expulsion, or this result may indicate continued CNO processing in the progenitor subsequent to the expulsion of the circumstellar ring.
We continue to explore the validity of the reflected shock structure (RSS) picture in SNR 1987A that was proposed in our previous analyses of the X-ray emission from this object. We used an improved version of our RSS model in a global analysis of 14 CCD spectra from the monitoring program with Chandra. In the framework of the RSS picture, we are able to match both the expansion velocity curve deduced from the analysis of the X-ray images and light curve. Using a simplified analysis, we also show that the X-rays and the non-thermal radio emission may originate from the same shock structure (the blast wave). We believe that using the RSS model in the analysis of grating data from the Chandra monitoring program of SNR 1987A that cover a long enough time interval, will allow us to build a more realistic physical picture and model of SNR 1987A.
The Schweizer-Middleditch star, located behind the SN 1006 remnant and near its center in projection, provides the opportunity to study cold, expanding ejecta within the SN 1006 shell through UV absorption. Especially notable is an extremely sharp red edge to the Si II 1260 Angstrom feature, which stems from the fastest moving ejecta on the far side of the SN 1006 shell--material that is just encountering the reverse shock. Comparing HST far-UV spectra obtained with COS in 2010 and with STIS in 1999, we have measured the change in this feature over the intervening 10.5-year baseline. We find that the sharp red edge of the Si II feature has shifted blueward by 0.19 +/- 0.05 Angstroms, which means that the material hitting the reverse shock in 2010 was moving slower by 44 +/- 11 km/s than the material that was hitting it in 1999, a change corresponding to - 4.2 +/- 1.0 km/s/yr. This is the first observational confirmation of a long-predicted dynamic effect for a reverse shock: that the shock will work its way inward through expanding supernova ejecta and encounter ever slower material as it proceeds. We also find that the column density of shocked Si II (material that has passed through the reverse shock) has decreased by 7 +/- 2% over the ten-year period. The decrease could indicate that in this direction the reverse shock has been ploughing through a dense clump of Si,leading to pressure and density transients.
Context. The youngest Galactic supernova remnant G1.9+0.3 is an interesting target for next generation gamma-ray observatories. So far, the remnant is only detected in the radio and the X-ray bands, but its young age of ~100 yrs and inferred shock speed of ~14,000 km/s could make it an efficient particle accelerator. Aims. We aim to model the observed radio and X-ray spectra together with the morphology of the remnant. At the same time, we aim to estimate the gamma-ray flux from the source and evaluated the prospects of its detection with future gamma-ray experiments. Methods. We performed spherical symmetric 1-D simulations with the RATPaC code, in which we simultaneously solve the transport equation for cosmic rays, the transport equation for magnetic turbulence, and the hydro-dynamical equations for the gas flow. Separately computed distributions of the particles accelerated at the forward and the reverse shock are then used to calculate the spectra of synchrotron, inverse Compton, and pion-decay radiation from the source. Results. The emission from G1.9+0.3 can be self-consistently explained within the test-particle limit. We find that the X-ray flux is dominated by emission from the forward shock while most of the radio emission originates near the reverse shock, which makes G1.9+0.3 the first remnant with non-thermal radiation detected from the reverse shock. The flux of very-high-energy gamma-ray emission from G1.9+0.3 is expected to be close to the sensitivity threshold of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA. The limited time available to grow large-scale turbulence limits the maximum energy of particles to values below 100 TeV, hence G1.9+0.3 is not a PeVatron.
We present observations with VLT and HST of the broad emission lines from the inner ejecta and reverse shock of SN 1987A from 1999 until 2012 (days 4381 -- 9100 after explosion). We detect broad lines from H-alpha, H-beta, Mg I], Na I, [O I], [Ca II] and a feature at 9220 A. We identify the latter line with Mg II 9218, 9244,most likely pumped by Ly-alpha fluorescence. H-alpha, and H-beta both have a centrally peaked component, extending to 4500 km/s and a very broad component extending to 11,000 km/s, while the other lines have only the central component. The low velocity component comes from unshocked ejecta, heated mainly by X-rays from the circumstellar ring collision, whereas the broad component comes from faster ejecta passing through the reverse shock. The reverse shock flux in H-alpha has increased by a factor of 4-6 from 2000 to 2007. After that there is a tendency of flattening of the light curve, similar to what may be seen in soft X-rays and in the optical lines from the shocked ring. The core component seen in H-alpha, [Ca II] and Mg II has experienced a similar increase, consistent with that found from HST photometry. The ring-like morphology of the ejecta is explained as a result of the X-ray illumination, depositing energy outside of the core of the ejecta. The energy deposition in the ejecta of the external X-rays illumination is calculated using explosion models for SN 1987A and we predict that the outer parts of the unshocked ejecta will continue to brighten because of this. We finally discuss evidence for dust in the ejecta from line asymmetries.
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