The Bubble-like Interior of the Core-Collapse Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

Abstract

The death of massive stars is believed to involve aspheric explosions initiated by the collapse of an iron core. The specifics of how these catastrophic explosions proceed remain uncertain due, in part, to limited observational constraints on various processes that can introduce asymmetries deep inside the star. Here we present near-infrared observations of the young Milky Way supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, descendant of a type IIb core-collapse explosion, and a three-dimensional map of its interior, unshocked ejecta. The remnant's interior has a bubble-like morphology that smoothly connects to and helps explain the multi-ringed structures seen in the remnant's bright reverse shocked main shell of expanding debris. This internal structure may have originated from turbulent mixing processes that encouraged the development of outwardly expanding plumes of radioactive 56Ni-rich ejecta. If this is true, substantial amounts of its decay product, 56Fe, may still reside in these interior cavities.

22 pages, 4 figures, including online supporting material; published in Science on 30 January 2015; interactive web app available at https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~dmilisav/casa-webapp/

References in corpus (5)

• Spectropolarimetry of Supernovae
• The Cassiopeia A Supernova was of Type IIB
• The Expansion Asymmetry and Age of the Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant
• Asymmetries in core-collapse supernovae from maps of radioactive ${}^{44}$Ti in CassiopeiaA
• Asphericity in Supernova Explosions from Late-Time Spectroscopy

Cited by in corpus (28)

• Observational constraints on the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae : the case for missing high mass stars
• The dust mass in Cassiopeia A from a spatially resolved Herschel analysis
• The distribution of radioactive ${}^{44}$Ti in Cassiopeia A
• High angular resolution ALMA images of dust and molecules in the SN 1987A ejecta
• Comparing Neutron Star Kicks to Supernova Remnant Asymmetries
• Three-dimensional distribution of ejecta in Supernova 1987A at 10 000 days
• A JWST Survey of the Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
• Evidence for past interaction with an asymmetric circumstellar shell in the young SNR Cassiopeia A
• Three-Dimensional Explosion Geometry of Stripped-Envelope Core-Collapse Supernovae. II. Modelling of Polarization
• High-entropy ejecta plumes in Cassiopeia A from neutrino-driven convection
• A sequence of Type Ib, IIb, II-L, and II-P supernovae from binary-star progenitors of varying initial separation
• JWST NIRSpec observations of Supernova 1987A -- from the inner ejecta to the reverse shock
• 3D mapping of the Crab Nebula with SITELLE. I. Deconvolution and kinematic reconstruction
• Dust destruction and survival in the Cassiopeia A reverse shock
• The dust mass in Cassiopeia A from infrared and optical line flux differences
• Clumps and rings of ejecta in SNR 0540-69.3 as seen in 3D
• Spectral modelling of Type IIb Supernovae
• A moderately precise dynamical age for the Homunculus of Eta Carinae based on 13 years of HST imaging
• Low-frequency radio absorption in Tycho's supernova remnant
• Filamentary Ejecta Network in Cassiopeia~A Reveals Fingerprints of the Supernova Explosion Mechanism
• Discovery of Stable Titanium at the Northeastern Jet of Cassiopeia A: Need for a Weak Jet Mechanism?
• Using Anisotropies as a Forensic Tool for Decoding Supernova Remnants
• X-ray Studies of the Inverted Ejecta Layers in the Southeast Area of Cassiopeia A
• Modelling and simulations of supernova remnants: a short review focused on recent progress in morphological studies
• Spatially resolved X-ray spectra of the Galactic SNR G18.95-1.1: SRG/eROSITA view
• The Molecular Clouds associated with the H II Regions/Candidates between $l=207.7^{\circ }$ and $l=211.7^{\circ }$
• Decadal brightening in the northeastern non-thermal filament of Cassiopeia A
• Bridging the gap between supernovae and their remnants through multi-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling