An Emission Line Survey of the Crab Nebula

Details An Emission Line Survey of the Crab Nebula An Emission Line Survey of the Crab Nebula

Jul 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999hst..prop.8222h&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #8222

Physics

Hst Proposal Id #8222 Stellar Ejecta

Scientific paper

We propose to conduct a WFPC2 survey of the Crab Nebula in the light of emission from O I, S II, and O III, and in a single continuum band. WFPC2 observations have already dramatically reshaped our understanding of the Crab. They have shown that the filaments in the Crab are the result of Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities at the surface of the synchrotron nebula. These data also provide the first direct evidence of the existence of an extended remnant of freely expanding ejecta that surrounds the visible nebula and into which the synchrotron nebula is expanding. High spatial resolution observations of the range of conditions around the R-T unstable interface are needed if we are to develop this understanding further or apply it to questions of the overall structure and evolution of the remnant. We have also found that the subarcsecond structure of filaments strongly influences overall filament spectra. Detailed knowledge of the ionization structure of filaments at HST resolution is essential to interpret any spectroscopic observations of the Crab, and is needed in particular if we are to disentangle such structural effects from the spatial abundance distribution within the nebula. In addition to our specific scientific objectives, this survey will provide a data set that is essential to all future studies of the structure, dynamics, and evolution of the Crab.

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