SPITZER OBSERVATIONS OF DUST DESTRUCTION IN THE PUPPIS A SUPERNOVA REMNANT

Journal Article · Fri Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/725/1/585· OSTI ID:21474411

Arendt, Richard G ^[1]; Dwek, Eli ^[2]; Blair, William P; Hwang, Una ^[3]; Ghavamian, Parviz; Long, Knox S ^[4]; Petre, Robert ^[5]; Rho, Jeonghee ^[6]

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1. CRESST, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250 (United States)
2. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 665, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
3. Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
4. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
5. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
6. Spitzer Science Center, MS 220-6, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

The interaction of the Puppis A supernova remnant (SNR) with a neighboring molecular cloud provides a unique opportunity to measure the amount of grain destruction in an SNR shock. Spitzer Space Telescope MIPS imaging of the entire SNR at 24, 70, and 160 {mu}m shows an extremely good correlation with X-ray emission, indicating that the SNR's IR radiation is dominated by the thermal emission of swept-up interstellar dust, collisionally heated by the hot shocked gas. Spitzer IRS spectral observations targeted both the Bright Eastern Knot (BEK) of the SNR where a small cloud has been engulfed by the supernova blast wave and outlying portions of the associated molecular cloud that are yet to be hit by the shock front. Modeling the spectra from both regions reveals the composition and the grain size distribution of the interstellar dust, both in front of and behind the SNR shock front. The comparison shows that the ubiquitous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of the interstellar medium are destroyed within the BEK, along with nearly 25% of the mass of graphite and silicate dust grains.

• OSTI ID: 21474411
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 725, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/725/1/585; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
DUSTS
GRAIN SIZE
INFRARED RADIATION
PHOTON EMISSION
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
TELESCOPES
X RADIATION
AROMATICS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EMISSION
HYDROCARBONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MICROSTRUCTURE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHYSICS
RADIATIONS
SIZE