Jets as diagnostics of the circumstellar medium and the explosion energetics of supernovae: the case of Cas A
arXiv:0806.4617 · doi:10.1086/591432
Abstract
We present hydrodynamical models for the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant and its observed jet / counter-jet system. We include the evolution of the progenitor's circumstellar medium, which is shaped by a slow red supergiant wind that is followed by a fast Wolf-Rayet (WR) wind. The main parameters of the simulations are the duration of the WR phase and the jet energy. We find that the jet is destroyed if the WR phase is sufficiently long and a massive circumstellar shell has formed. We therefore conclude that the WR phase must have been short (a few thousand yr), if present at all. Since the actual jet length of Cas A is not known we derive a lower limit for the jet energy, which is ~10^{48} erg. We discuss the implications for the progenitor of Cas A and the nature of its explosion.
9 pages, 5 figures, ApJ accepted. Version with high resolution figures available at http://www.phys.uu.nl/~schure/CasA_jet.pdf
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Cited by in corpus (5)
- Evidence for past interaction with an asymmetric circumstellar shell in the young SNR Cassiopeia A
- Highlights and Discoveries from the Chandra X-ray Observatory
- Discovery of Stable Titanium at the Northeastern Jet of Cassiopeia A: Need for a Weak Jet Mechanism?
- X-ray Studies of the Inverted Ejecta Layers in the Southeast Area of Cassiopeia A
- The forward and reverse shock dynamics of Cassiopeia A