Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jun 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...208.5902k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society Meeting 208, #59.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.139
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We report on infrared observations of the prototypical supernova remnant Cassiopeia A obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Two images of Cas A taken at 24 micrometers with the MIPS instrument over a 1-year time interval revealed moving structures outside the shell of the supernova remnant to a distance of more than 20 arc minutes. The observed tangential velocities are at roughly the speed of light. The moving structures are infrared echoes, in which interstellar dust is heated by the explosion and by flares from the compact object near the center of the remnant. Far-infrared maps of the remnant at 160 micrometers in combination with molecular line observations demonstrate that most of recently detected submillimetre emission towards Cas A originates from interstellar dust in a molecular cloud complex located in the line of sight between the Earth and the remnant, rather than from a large amount (about three solar masses) of cold (18K) dust within Cas A. The argument that type II supernovae produce copious amounts of dust is therefore not supported by the case of Cas A, which previously appeared to provide the best evidence for this possibility.
Birkmann Stephan
Krause Oliver
Rieke George H.
No associations
LandOfFree
Light Echoes and Cold Dust in Cas A 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 Light Echoes and Cold Dust in Cas A, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Light Echoes and Cold Dust in Cas A will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1856842