The Triple-Ring Nebula around SN1987A: Fingerprint of a binary merger

Abstract

Supernova 1987A, the first naked-eye supernova observed since Kepler's supernova in 1604, defies a number of theoretical expectations. Its anomalies have long been attributed to a merger between two massive stars that occurred some 20,000 years before the explosion, but so far there has been no conclusive proof that this merger took place. Here, we present three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of the mass ejection associated with such a merger and the subsequent evolution of the ejecta, and we show that this accurately reproduces the properties of the triple-ring nebula surrounding the supernova.

arXiv comment16 pages (including 7 pages of supplementary material), 2 figures (reduced in size), appeared in Science on 23rd February 2007. Animations available at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/315/5815/1103/DC1 or http://www-astro.physics.ox.ac.uk/~tsm/scipaper/index.html

References in corpus (6)

• Probing the Stellar Surface of HD 209458 from Multicolor Transit Observations
• The evolution of ultraviolet emission lines from the circumstellar material surrounding SN 1987A
• Anisotropic mass ejection in binary mergers
• A New View of the Circumstellar Environment of SN 1987A
• A Model for the Outer Rings of SN 1987A
• The spin-up of contracting red supergiants

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