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Light Echoes of Transients and Variables in the Local Universe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2013

A. Rest ,
B. Sinnott  and
D. L. Welch
A. Rest*
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
B. Sinnott
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada
D. L. Welch
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada
*
CCorresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Astronomical light echoes, the time-dependent light scattered by dust in the vicinity of varying objects, have been recognized for over a century. Initially, their utility was thought to be confined to mapping out the three-dimensional distribution of interstellar dust. Recently, the discovery of spectroscopically useful light echoes around centuries-old supernovae in the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud has opened up new scientific opportunities to exploit light echoes.

In this review, we describe the history of light echoes in the local Universe and cover the many new developments in both the observation of light echoes and the interpretation of the light scattered from them. Among other benefits, we highlight our new ability to classify outbursting objects spectroscopically, view them from multiple perspectives, obtain a spectroscopic time series of the outburst, and establish accurate distances to the source event. We also describe the broader range of variable objects with properties that may be better understood from light-echo observations. Finally, we discuss the prospects of new light-echo techniques not yet realized in practice.

Keywords

stars: distancesstars: supernova: individual: SN 1987A, Cas A, Tychostars: variables: generalnovae, cataclysmic variablesdust, extinctionISM: supernova remnants
Type
Research Front: 2. Supernovae and their Host Galaxies
Information
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , 2012 , pp. 466 - 481
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2012

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