Imaging observations of SN1987A at gamma-ray energies

Conference · Sun Sep 25 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · AIP Conf. Proc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6921407

Cook, W R; Palmer, D M; Prince, T A; Schindler, S M; Starr, C H; Stone, E C

The Caltech imaging ..gamma..-ray telescope was launched by balloon from Alice Springs, NT, Australia for observations of SN1987A during the period 18.60--18.87 November 1987 UT. The preliminary results presented here are derived from 8200 seconds of instrument livetime on the supernova and 2500 seconds on the Crab Nebula and pulsar at a float altitude of 37 km. We have obtained the first images of the SN1987A region at ..gamma..-ray energies confirming that the bulk of the ..gamma..-ray emission comes from the supernova and not from LMC X-1. A count excess is detected between 300 and 1300 keV from the direction of the supernova, one third of which comes from energy bands of width 80 and 92 keV centered on 847 and 1238 keV, respectively. The excess can be interpreted as a line photon flux plus scattered photon continuum from the radioactive decay of /sup 56/Co synthesized in the supernova explosion. We compare our data to recent predictions and find it to be consistent with models invoking moderate mixing of core material into the envelope.

• Research Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125
• OSTI ID: 6921407
• Report Number(s): CONF-871245-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AIP Conf. Proc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 170:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640101 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Cosmic Radiation
640102* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AIRSHIPS
BALLOONS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
COBALT 56
COBALT ISOTOPES
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
COSMIC RAY FLUX
CRAB NEBULA
DATA
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DECAY
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GALAXIES
GAMMA SPECTRA
IMAGE PROCESSING
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
NEBULAE
NUCLEI
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PROCESSING
RADIATION FLUX
RADIOISOTOPES
SPECTRA
STARS
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
SUPERNOVAE
SYNTHESIS
VARIABLE STARS