CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS OF SN 1987A: THE SOFT X-RAY LIGHT CURVE REVISITED
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
- MIT Kavli Institute, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
- Observational Cosmology Laboratory, Code 665, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, 440 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)
- Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19059, Arlington, TX 76019 (United States)
- NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 661, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Space Research and Technology Institute, Akad. G. Bonchev str., bl.1, Sofia 1113 (Bulgaria)
We report on the present stage of SN 1987A as observed by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. We reanalyze published Chandra observations and add three more epochs of Chandra data to get a consistent picture of the evolution of the X-ray fluxes in several energy bands. We discuss the implications of several calibration issues for Chandra data. Using the most recent Chandra calibration files, we find that the 0.5-2.0 keV band fluxes of SN 1987A have increased by {approx}6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -13} erg s{sup -1} cm{sup -2} per year since 2009. This is in contrast with our previous result that the 0.5-2.0 keV light curve showed a sudden flattening in 2009. Based on our new analysis, we conclude that the forward shock is still in full interaction with the equatorial ring.
- OSTI ID:
- 22167063
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 764, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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