Observing Supernova 1987A with the Refurbished Hubble Space Telescope

Abstract

Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), conducted since 1990, now offer an unprecedented glimpse into fast astrophysical shocks in the young remnant of supernova 1987A. Comparing observations taken in 2010 using the refurbished instruments on HST with data taken in 2004, just before the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph failed, we find that the Ly-a and H-a lines from shock emission continue to brighten, while their maximum velocities continue to decrease. We observe broad blueshifted Ly-a, which we attribute to resonant scattering of photons emitted from hotspots on the equatorial ring. We also detect NV~λλ1239,1243 A line emission, but only to the red of Ly-A. The profiles of the NV lines differ markedly from that of H-a, suggesting that the N^{4+} ions are scattered and accelerated by turbulent electromagnetic fields that isotropize the ions in the collisionless shock.

Science, accepted. Science Express, 02 Sept 2010. 5 figures. Supporting online material can be found at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;science.1192134/DC1

References in corpus (3)

• The Triple-Ring Nebula around SN1987A: Fingerprint of a binary merger
• Balmer-Dominated Shocks Revisited
• Evolution of the Reverse Shock Emission from SNR 1987A

Cited by in corpus (22)

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• GASP III. JO36: a case of multiple environmental effects at play?
• X-ray illumination of the ejecta of Supernova 1987A
• Three-dimensional distribution of ejecta in Supernova 1987A at 10 000 days
• The quest for blue supergiants: binary merger models for the evolution of the progenitor of SN 1987A
• Three-dimensional simulation of a core-collapse supernova for a binary star progenitor of SN 1987A
• SOFIA mid-infrared observations of Supernova 1987A in 2016 --- forward shocks and possible dust re-formation in the post-shocked region?
• Late Spectral Evolution of the Ejecta and Reverse Shock in SN1987A
• HST-COS Observations of Hydrogen, Helium, Carbon and Nitrogen Emission from the SN 1987A Reverse Shock
• ALMA spectral survey of Supernova 1987A --- molecular inventory, chemistry, dynamics and explosive nucleosynthesis
• The matter beyond the ring: the recent evolution of SN 1987A observed by the Hubble Space Telescope
• JWST NIRSpec observations of Supernova 1987A -- from the inner ejecta to the reverse shock
• Thirty years of SN 1980K: Evidence for light echoes
• The mass-loss rates of red supergiants at low metallicity: Detection of rotational CO emission from two red supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• First VLBI Detection of the Radio Remnant of Supernova 1987A: Evidence for Small-scale Features
• Mapping High-velocity H-alpha and Lyman-alpha Emission from Supernova 1987A
• The morphology of the ejecta of SN 1987A at 31 years from 1150 to 10000 Å
• Polarized radio emission unveils the structure of the pre-supernova circumstellar magnetic field and the radio emission in SN1987A
• The missing compact star of SN1987A: a solid quark star?
• Isoperimetric inequalities for the handlebody groups