Confirmation of Dust Condensation in the Ejecta of Supernova 1987a

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

8

Scientific paper

Shortly after its outburst, we suggested that supernova 1987a might condense a dust shell of substantial visual optical thickness as many classical novae do and predicted that dust might form within a year after the explosion. A critical examination of recent optical and infrared observations reported by others confirms that dust grains had begun to grow at a temperature of 1000 K after 300 days and that the dust shell had become optically thick by day 600. After day 600, the infrared luminosity closely followed the intrinsic luminosity expected for thermalized 56Co γ rays, demonstrating that the luminosity is powered by radioactivity and that the dust is outside the radioactivity zone. The infrared luminosity sets an upper limit to the soft intrinsic bolometric luminosity of a pulsar central engine. This upper limit for the pulsar in supernova 1987a is the same luminosity as the Crab pulsar has today 936 years after its formation. It is unlikely that the rotation rate for a pulsar in supernova 1987a can be much higher than ≈ 30 revolutions per sec. The relatively long time required for the shell to grow to maximum optical depth as compared with the dust in nova shells may be related to the relatively low outflow velocity of the condensible ejecta.

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

Confirmation of Dust Condensation in the Ejecta of Supernova 1987a 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 Confirmation of Dust Condensation in the Ejecta of Supernova 1987a, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Confirmation of Dust Condensation in the Ejecta of Supernova 1987a will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-988586

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