X- and Gamma-ray Studies of Cas A: Exposing Core Collapse to the Core

Abstract

In this review of X-ray and gamma-ray observations of Cas A, evidence is discussed that Cas A was a Type Ib supernova of a Wolf-Rayet star with a main sequence mass between 22-25 Msun, that exploded after stellar wind loss had reduced its mass to ~6 Msun. The observed kinematics and the high Ti-44 yield indicate that the supernova explosion was probably assymetric, with a kinetic energy of ~2x10^51 erg.

6 pages, 3 figures, to be published in New Astronomy Reviews (proceedings of the Workshop "Astronomy with Radioactivities IV and Filling the Sensitivity Gap in MeV Astronomy", Seeon, Germany, May 26-30, 2003)

References in corpus (11)

• How Massive Single Stars End their Life
• Stellar evolution with rotation X: Wolf-Rayet star populations at solar metallicity
• Observed and Physical Properties of Core-Collapse Supernovae
• On the magnetic fields and particle acceleration in Cas A
• Non-spherical Core Collapse Supernovae I. Neutrino-Driven Convection, Rayleigh-Taylor Instabilities, and the Formation and Propagation of Metal Clumps
• Early SPI/INTEGRAL measurements of galactic 511 keV line emission from positron annihilation
• On the Determination of Ejecta Structure and Explosion Asymmetry from the X-ray Knots of Cassiopeia A
• Cassiopeia A and its Clumpy Presupernova Wind
• Where was the Iron Synthesized in Cassiopeia A?
• The mass and energy budget of Cassiopeia A
• The First Measurement of Cassiopeia A's Forward Shock Expansion Rate

Cited by in corpus (31)

• Supernova remnants: the X-ray perspective
• A Million-Second Chandra View of Cassiopeia A
• Supernova remnant energetics and magnetars: no evidence in favour of millisecond proto-neutron stars
• Production and Distribution of ${}^{44}$Ti and ${}^{56}$Ni in a Three-dimensional Supernova Model Resembling Cassiopeia A
• The signature of 44Ti in Cassiopeia A revealed by IBIS/ISGRI on INTEGRAL
• Nuclear-Astrophysics Lessons from INTEGRAL
• Discovery of Outlying, High-Velocity Oxygen-Rich Ejecta in Cassiopeia A
• An HST Survey of the Highest-Velocity Ejecta in Cassiopeia A
• A JWST Survey of the Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
• The hydrodynamics of the supernova remnant Cas A: The influence of the progenitor evolution on the velocity structure and clumping
• The 40Ca(alpha,gamma)44Ti reaction in the energy regime of supernova nucleosynthesis
• Jets as diagnostics of the circumstellar medium and the explosion energetics of supernovae: the case of Cas A
• ${}^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ ejecta in young supernova remnants
• An INTEGRAL/IBIS view of Young Galactic SNRs through the 44Ti gamma-ray lines
• Supernova remnants with magnetars: clues to magnetar formation
• Element Abundances in the Unshocked Ejecta of Cassiopeia A
• Hard X-ray emissions from Cassiopeia A observed by INTEGRAL
• Gamma-ray Observations of Explosive Nucleosynthesis Products
• Molecular gas toward supernova remnant Cassiopeia A
• A Sub-Solar Metallicity Progenitor for Cassiopeia A, the remnant of a Type IIb Supernova
• High spatial resolution X-ray spectroscopy of SNR Cassiopeia A with {\sl Chandra}
• Is Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A a PeVatron?
• Constraints on the kinematics of the 44Ti ejecta of Cassiopeia A from INTEGRAL/SPI
• X-ray diagnostics of Cassiopeia A's "Green Monster": evidence for dense shocked circumstellar plasma
• Discovery of Stable Titanium at the Northeastern Jet of Cassiopeia A: Need for a Weak Jet Mechanism?
• X-ray emitting structures in the Vela SNR: ejecta anisotropies and progenitor stellar wind residuals
• X-ray Studies of the Inverted Ejecta Layers in the Southeast Area of Cassiopeia A
• Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Dense Ejecta Knots in the Outer Eastern Area of the Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant
• New insights from cosmic gamma rays
• Gamma-ray line measurements from supernova explosions
• The forward and reverse shock dynamics of Cassiopeia A