Prospects for observations of nucleosynthetic gamma-ray lines and continuum from SN 1987A
Expected flux levels for nucleosynthetic gamma-ray line and continuum emissions from SN 1987A are calculated for several models. The dominant line emission is from freshly synthesized Ni-56 and its decay daughters, and the continuum is from Compton scattering of line photons. For a 15 solar mass Type II model, the light curve for the 0.847 MeV gamma-ray line peaks in September 1988 at 3 x 10 to the -4th photons/sq cm/s. This is detectable only by new, ultrasensitive balloon-borne spectrometers. For models with substantial mass loss from their envelopes, the peak is in early 1988 at about 0.01 photons/sq cm/s, which is detectable at high significance levels by all current instruments. The continuum emission in the 0.05-0.5 MeV band peaks about 100 days before the 0.847 MeV line peak. This Compton precursor is observable at about the same significance level as the lines. 18 references.
- Research Organization:
- NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD; Sandia National Lab., Albuquerque, NM; AT and T Bell Labs., Murray Hill, NJ
- OSTI ID:
- 5663240
- Journal Information:
- Astrophys. J.; (United States), Vol. 320
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
SMM gamma-ray observations of SN 1987A
Summary of gamma-ray observations of SN 1987A
Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
SUPERNOVAE
GAMMA RADIATION
COMPTON EFFECT
EMISSION SPECTRA
ENERGY SPECTRA
MASS
NICKEL 56
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
SPECTROMETERS
STAR MODELS
BASIC INTERACTIONS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ELASTIC SCATTERING
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
INTERACTIONS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
IONIZING RADIATIONS
ISOTOPES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NICKEL ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
RADIATIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
SCATTERING
SPECTRA
STARS
SYNTHESIS
VARIABLE STARS
640102* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources