The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)
JWST NIRCam Observations of SN 1987A: Spitzer Comparison and Spectral Decomposition
- Richard G. Arendt,
- Martha L. Boyer,
- Eli Dwek,
- Mikako Matsuura,
- Aravind P. Ravi,
- Armin Rest,
- Roger Chevalier,
- Phil Cigan,
- Ilse De Looze,
- Guido De Marchi,
- Claes Fransson,
- Christa Gall,
- R. D. Gehrz,
- Haley L. Gomez,
- Tuomas Kangas,
- Florian Kirchschlager,
- Robert P. Kirshner,
- Josefin Larsson,
- Peter Lundqvist,
- Dan Milisavljevic,
- Sangwook Park,
- Nathan Smith,
- Jason Spyromilio,
- Tea Temim,
- Lifan Wang,
- J. Craig Wheeler,
- Charles E. Woodward
Affiliations
- Richard G. Arendt
- ORCiD
- Center for Space Sciences and Technology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA ; [email protected]; Code 665, NASA/GSFC , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, NASA/GSFC , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Martha L. Boyer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Eli Dwek
- ORCiD
- Code 665, NASA/GSFC , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Mikako Matsuura
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University , Queen’s Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
- Aravind P. Ravi
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington , Box 19059, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
- Armin Rest
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Roger Chevalier
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia , P.O. Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325, USA
- Phil Cigan
- ORCiD
- U.S. Naval Observatory , 3450 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., Washington, DC 20392-5420, USA
- Ilse De Looze
- ORCiD
- Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Ghent University , Krijgslaan 281-S9, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Guido De Marchi
- ORCiD
- European Space Research and Technology Centre , Keplerlaan 1, 2200 AG Noordwijk, Netherlands
- Claes Fransson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The Oskar Klein Center , Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
- Christa Gall
- ORCiD
- DARK, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
- R. D. Gehrz
- ORCiD
- Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota , 116 Church Street, S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- Haley L. Gomez
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University , Queen’s Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
- Tuomas Kangas
- ORCiD
- Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO (FINCA), University of Turku , FI-20014 Finland; Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku , FI-20014 Finland
- Florian Kirchschlager
- ORCiD
- Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Ghent University , Krijgslaan 281-S9, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Robert P. Kirshner
- ORCiD
- TMT International Observatory , 100 W. Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA 91124, USA
- Josefin Larsson
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology , The Oskar Klein Centre, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Peter Lundqvist
- ORCiD
- Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University , Albanova University Centre, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Dan Milisavljevic
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Sangwook Park
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington , Box 19059, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
- Nathan Smith
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Jason Spyromilio
- ORCiD
- European Southern Observatory , Karl-Schwarzschild-Str 2, Garching D-85748, Germany
- Tea Temim
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Lifan Wang
- ORCiD
- Texas A&M University , Physics & Astronomy and Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics & Astronomy, 4242 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
- J. Craig Wheeler
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712-1205, USA
- Charles E. Woodward
- ORCiD
- Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota , 116 Church Street, S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acfd95
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 959,
no. 2
p. 95
Abstract
JWST Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) observations at 1.5–4.5 μ m have provided broadband and narrowband imaging of the evolving remnant of SN 1987A with unparalleled sensitivity and spatial resolution. Comparing with previous marginally spatially resolved Spitzer Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) observations from 2004 to 2019 confirms that the emission arises from the circumstellar equatorial ring (ER), and the current brightness at 3.6 and 4.5 μ m was accurately predicted by extrapolation of the declining brightness tracked by IRAC. Despite the regular light curve, the NIRCam observations clearly reveal that much of this emission is from a newly developing outer portion of the ER. Spots in the outer ER tend to lie at position angles in between the well-known ER hotspots. We show that the bulk of the emission in the field can be represented by five standard spectral energy distributions, each with a distinct origin and spatial distribution. This spectral decomposition provides a powerful technique for distinguishing overlapping emission from the circumstellar medium and the supernova ejecta, excited by the forward and reverse shocks, respectively.
Keywords
- Circumstellar dust
- Core-collapse supernovae
- Infrared astronomy
- Large Magellanic Cloud
- Ring nebulae
- Supernova remnants
