The UV Light Echo of Shock Breakout During SN 1987A

Physics

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Hst Proposal Id #9111 Hot Stars

Scientific paper

Light echoes {transient reflection nebulae} from SN1987A were discovered in the optical in 1988 and have been detected in the vacuum ultraviolet by IUE. The UV data would be the first ``direct'' observation of the hot spectrum emitted by a supernova shock destroying its progenitor star; unfortunately the large aperture and pointing instabilities of IUE make these data difficult to calibrate and interpret in great detail. The breakout signal has also been modified by the spectral reflectance of the echoing dust. We propose to confirm the UV detection and to disentangle the incident SN spectrum from the dust reflectance by observing the UV echo at two scattering phase angles and combining them with HST and ground-based data. Sampling two echoes at widely-spaced spectral points and two scattering angles will provide us with enough independent information to factor these separately. The resulting early UV spectrum of SN 1987A will allow a direct test of theoretical models of supernova shock propagation and breakout from a star, as well as provide an accurate input ionization spectrum for understanding the excitation and recombination of gas in the observed circumstellar nebulosity around SN1987A. This study will also strongly constrain the physical properties of interstellar dust in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

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