1. JWST NIRSpec observations of Supernova 1987A -- from the inner ejecta to the reverse shock
- Author
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Larsson, J., Fransson, C., Sargent, B., Jones, O.C., Barlow, M.J., Bouchet, P., Meixner, M., Blommaert, J.A.D.L., Coulais, A., Fox, O.D., Gastaud, R., Glasse, A., Habel, N., Hirschauer, A.S., Hjorth, J., Jaspers, J., Kavanagh, P.J., Krause, O., Lau, R.M., Lenkic, L., Nayak, O., Rest, A., Temim, T., Tikkanen, T., Wesson, R., Wright, G.S., Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation (AIM (UMR7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'Etude du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique et Atmosphères = Laboratory for Studies of Radiation and Matter in Astrophysics and Atmospheres (LERMA), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-CY Cergy Paris Université (CY), Département d'Astrophysique (ex SAP) (DAP), Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), and Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay
- Subjects
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) ,Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics ,FOS: Physical sciences ,[PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph] ,Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) - Abstract
We present initial results from JWST NIRSpec integral field unit observations of the nearby Supernova (SN) 1987A. The observations provide the first spatially-resolved spectroscopy of the ejecta and equatorial ring (ER) over the 1-5 \mu m range. We construct 3D emissivity maps of the [Fe I] 1.443 \mu m line from the inner ejecta and the He I 1.083 \mu m line from the reverse shock (RS), where the former probes the explosion geometry and the latter traces the structure of the circumstellar medium. We also present a model for the integrated spectrum of the ejecta. The [Fe I] 3D map reveals a highly-asymmetric morphology resembling a broken dipole, dominated by two large clumps with velocities of ~2300 km/s. We also find evidence that the Fe-rich inner ejecta have started to interact with the RS. The RS surface traced by the He I line extends from just inside the ER to higher latitudes on both sides of the ER with a half-opening angle ~45 degrees, forming a bubble-like structure. The spectral model for the ejecta allows us to identify the many emission lines, including numerous H_2 lines. We find that the H_2 is most likely excited by far-UV emission, while the metal lines ratios are consistent with a combination of collisional excitation and recombination in the low-temperature ejecta. We also find several high-ionization coronal lines from the ER, requiring a temperature > 2 \times 10^6 K., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL
- Published
- 2023
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