Other
Scientific paper
Feb 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000noao.prop..215l&link_type=abstract
NOAO Proposal ID #2000A-0215
Other
Scientific paper
We propose to use multislit, high-resolution echelle spectra to study the circumstellar environment within ~2 arcmin of SN1987A. Previous studies with this instrument over a much larger field have detected gas components with V_hel=+269 and +301 km s^-1, spatially coincident with circumstellar material detected from our light echo mapping program. We wish to study these components through their H(alpha), [N II], and [S II] emission lines with significantly more depth and finer spatial sampling than before. We will analyze the spatial and velocity distribution of these components with respect to our light echo maps and to the position of SN 1987A, looking for correlations or symmetries that would connect this gas to the progenitor star. The line ratios will indicate whether the gas is shock-heated or photoionized, and provide us with abundance information which will classify the gas as more similar to the bright, nitrogen-rich ``rings'' or to other LMC ISM material in this same field. Using these two approaches we hope to firmly establish the circumstellar or interstellar nature of these components and further explore the pre-SN mass loss of the progenitor star. This would serve as the first detailed velocity study of the red supergiant mass-loss nebula at radii well beyond the famous rings. Additionally, the data will provide an epoch of high- resolution spectroscopy in prominent optical lines of the ``hotspot'' and rings, monitoring the birth of a supernova remnant.
Crotts Arlin
Heathcote Steve
Lawrence Stephen
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