A NEW EVOLUTIONARY PHASE OF SUPERNOVA REMNANT 1987A

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/733/2/L35· OSTI ID:21562645

Park, Sangwook ^[1]; Zhekov, Svetozar A ^[2]; Burrows, David N ^[3]; Racusin, Judith L ^[4]; Dewey, Daniel ^[5]; McCray, Richard ^[6]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, 108 Science Hall, Box 19059, Arlington, TX 76019 (United States)
2. Space and Solar-Terrestrial Research Institute, Moskovska str. 6, Sofia 1000 (Bulgaria)
3. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
4. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Code 661, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
5. MIT Kavli Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
6. JILA, University of Colorado, Box 440, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)

We have been monitoring the supernova remnant (SNR) 1987A with Chandra observations since 1999. Here we report on the latest change in the soft X-ray light curve of SNR 1987A. For the last {approx}1.5 yr (since day {approx}8000), the soft X-ray flux has significantly flattened, staying (within uncertainties) at f{sub X} {approx} 5.7 x 10{sup -12} erg cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} (corresponding to L{sub X} {approx} 3.6 x 10{sup 36} erg s{sup -1}) in the 0.5-2 keV band. This remarkable change in the recent soft X-ray light curve suggests that the forward shock is now interacting with a decreasing density structure, after interacting with an increasing density gradient over {approx}10 yr prior to day {approx}8000. Possibilities may include the case that the shock is now propagating beyond a density peak of the inner ring. We briefly discuss some possible implications on the nature of the progenitor and the future prospects of our Chandra monitoring observations.

• OSTI ID: 21562645
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 733; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DENSITY
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
SOFT X RADIATION
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
X RADIATION