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Observations of SN 1987A in the Mid-infrared

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2016

D.K. Aitken
D.K. Aitken*
Affiliation:
Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales
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Abstract

Mid-infrared spectroscopic data on SN 1987A are reviewed. This spectral region contains the fine structure lines of a number of ions, incuding the iron group elements, together with recombination lines of hydrogen and helium. From about 9 months all these lines and the continuum have been effectively optically thin, and the [CoII] line strength and development yields an estimate of the parental 56Ni mass of 0.071 M⊙, very similar to the light curve estimates. At one year after the explosion the velocities appropriate to the hydrogenic and ionic regions are ∼ 2000 km s−1 and ∼ 1500 km s−1, respectively.

Apart from an excess between 8–9 μm which appears to be due to molecular SiO, there is no evidence of departure of the continuum from free-free emission, and no sign of any emission from dust. From the free-free continuum an ionization fraction of a few percent is derived for the hydrogen/helium envelope; this provides relative transparency in the mid infrared while the bound electrons provide the X and γ-ray opacity which is still considerable at 15 months.

The appearance of neutral ions at 15 months indicates that the ejecta temperatures are cooling, and that dust formation may be imminent.

Type
Research Article
Information
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , 1988 , pp. 462 - 467
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 1988

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