The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
JWST NIRSpec Observations of Supernova 1987A—From the Inner Ejecta to the Reverse Shock
- J. Larsson,
- C. Fransson,
- B. Sargent,
- O. C. Jones,
- M. J. Barlow,
- P. Bouchet,
- M. Meixner,
- J. A. D. L. Blommaert,
- A. Coulais,
- O. D. Fox,
- R. Gastaud,
- A. Glasse,
- N. Habel,
- A. S. Hirschauer,
- J. Hjorth,
- J. Jaspers,
- P. J. Kavanagh,
- O. Krause,
- R. M. Lau,
- L. Lenkić,
- O. Nayak,
- A. Rest,
- T. Temim,
- T. Tikkanen,
- R. Wesson,
- G. S. Wright
Affiliations
- J. Larsson
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, The Oskar Klein Centre , AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden ; [email protected]
- C. Fransson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University , The Oskar Klein Centre, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- B. Sargent
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Center for Astrophysical Sciences, The William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- O. C. Jones
- ORCiD
- UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory , Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- M. J. Barlow
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London (UCL) , Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- P. Bouchet
- ORCiD
- Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Universite Paris Diderot , F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- M. Meixner
- ORCiD
- Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy , NASA Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 204-14, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- J. A. D. L. Blommaert
- ORCiD
- Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Group , Department of Physics and Astrophysics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
- A. Coulais
- ORCiD
- LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Universié , CNRS, Paris, France; Astrophysics Department CEA-Saclay, France
- O. D. Fox
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- R. Gastaud
- Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CEA-IRFU/SAp, CNRS, Universite Paris Diderot , F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- A. Glasse
- ORCiD
- UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory , Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- N. Habel
- ORCiD
- Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy , NASA Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 204-14, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- A. S. Hirschauer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- J. Hjorth
- ORCiD
- DARK, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
- J. Jaspers
- Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies , School of Cosmic Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics Section, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, Ireland; Department of Experimental Physics, Maynooth University , Maynooth, Co Kildare, Ireland
- P. J. Kavanagh
- ORCiD
- Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies , School of Cosmic Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics Section, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, Ireland; Department of Experimental Physics, Maynooth University , Maynooth, Co Kildare, Ireland
- O. Krause
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie , Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
- R. M. Lau
- ORCiD
- NSF's NOIR Lab 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- L. Lenkić
- ORCiD
- Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy , NASA Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 204-14, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
- O. Nayak
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- A. Rest
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- T. Temim
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- T. Tikkanen
- School of Physics & Astronomy, Space Research Centre, University of Leicester , Space Park Leicester, 92 Corporation Road, Leicester LE4 5SP, UK
- R. Wesson
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University , Queen's Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
- G. S. Wright
- UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory , Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acd555
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 949,
no. 2
p. L27
Abstract
We present initial results from JWST NIRSpec integral field unit observations of the nearby supernova SN 1987A. The observations provide the first spatially resolved spectroscopy of the ejecta and equatorial ring (ER) over the 1–5 μ m range. We construct 3D emissivity maps of the [Fe i ] 1.443 μ m line from the inner ejecta and the He i 1.083 μ m line from the reverse shock (RS), where the former probes the explosion geometry and the latter traces the structure of the circumstellar medium. We also present a model for the integrated spectrum of the ejecta. The [Fe i ] 3D map reveals a highly asymmetric morphology resembling a broken dipole, dominated by two large clumps with velocities of ∼2300 km s ^−1 . We also find evidence that the Fe-rich inner ejecta have started to interact with the RS. The RS surface traced by the He i line extends from just inside the ER to higher latitudes on both sides of the ER with a half-opening angle ∼45°, forming a bubble-like structure. The spectral model for the ejecta allows us to identify the many emission lines, including numerous H _2 lines. We find that the H _2 is most likely excited by far-UV emission, while the metal-line ratios are consistent with a combination of collisional excitation and recombination in the low-temperature ejecta. We also find several high-ionization coronal lines from the ER, requiring a temperature ≳2 × 10 ^6 K.
Keywords
