The Destruction of the Circumstellar Ring of SN 1987A

Abstract

We present imaging and spectroscopic observations with HST and VLT of the ring of SN 1987A from 1994 to 2014. After an almost exponential increase of the shocked emission from the hotspots up to day ~8,000 (~2009), both this and the unshocked emission are now fading. From the radial positions of the hotspots we see an acceleration of these up to 500-1000 km/s, consistent with the highest spectroscopic shock velocities from the radiative shocks. In the most recent observations (2013 and 2014), we find several new hotspots outside the inner ring, excited by either X-rays from the shocks or by direct shock interaction. All of these observations indicate that the interaction with the supernova ejecta is now gradually dissolving the hotspots. We predict, based on the observed decay, that the inner ring will be destroyed by ~2025.

5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for ApJ Letters

References in corpus (5)

• Multiple ring nebulae around blue supergiants
• X-ray illumination of the ejecta of Supernova 1987A
• Time evolution of the line emission from the inner circumstellar ring of SN 1987A and its hot spots
• Multi-dimensional simulations of the expanding supernova remnant of SN 1987A
• Mapping High-velocity H-alpha and Lyman-alpha Emission from Supernova 1987A

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• Spectral Evolution of the X-Ray Remnant of SN 1987A: A High-Resolution $Chandra$ HETG Study
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• Latest Evolution of the X-Ray Remnant of SN 1987A: Beyond the Inner Ring
• A 3D view of molecular hydrogen in Supernova 1987A
• Forbidden Line Emission from Type Ia Supernova Remnants Containing Balmer-Dominated Shells
• The morphology of the ejecta of SN 1987A at 31 years from 1150 to 10000 Å
• The infrared echo of SN2010jl and its implications for shock breakout characteristics
• Mid-infrared imaging of Supernova 1987A
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• Polarized radio emission unveils the structure of the pre-supernova circumstellar magnetic field and the radio emission in SN1987A
• An Exploration of X-ray Supernova Remnants in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
• Near-infrared evolution of the equatorial ring of SN 1987A
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• Bridging the gap between supernovae and their remnants through multi-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling