Properties and Spatial Distribution of Dust Emission in the Crab Nebula

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The nature and quantity of dust produced in supernovae (SNe) is still not understood. Recent infrared (IR) observations of freshly-formed dust in supernova remnants (SNRs) have yielded significantly lower dust masses than predicted by theoretical models and high redshift observations. The Crab Nebula's pulsar wind is thought to be sweeping up freshly-formed SN dust along with the SN ejecta. The evidence for this dust was found in the form of an IR bump in the integrated spectrum of the Crab and in extinction against the synchrotron nebula that revealed the presence of dust in the filament cores. We present the first spatially resolved emission spectra of dust in the Crab Nebula acquired with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The IR spectra are dominated by synchrotron emission and show forbidden line emission from both sides of the expanding nebula, including emission from S, Si, Ne, Ar, Fe, and Ni. We extrapolated a synchrotron spectral cube from the Spitzer 3.6 and 4.5 micron images, and subtracted this contribution from our spectral data to produce a map of the residual continuum emission from dust. The emission appears to be concentrated along the ejecta filaments and is well fitted by astronomical silicates at an average temperature of 52 K. We discuss the spatial variations in the dust spectrum across the nebula and revise the total dust mass estimates.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Properties and Spatial Distribution of Dust Emission in the Crab Nebula does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Properties and Spatial Distribution of Dust Emission in the Crab Nebula, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Properties and Spatial Distribution of Dust Emission in the Crab Nebula will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1737561

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.