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At least 271 records · Page 15
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NASA NTRS1980

X-ray spectra of supernova remnants

The X-ray spectra of supernova remnants are discussed, and their implications for the emission mechanism are considered. A model-fitting procedure for analyzing spectral information is presented, and alternative data presentations are indicated. Model spectra expected from diffuse X-ray sources, in which X-ray transfer effects are minimized, are calculated for the cases of Compton interactions, synchrotron radiation and bremsstrahlung. The emission mechanisms of supernova remnants are then considered, and it is pointed out that whereas it is certain that the X radiation from the Crab pulsar arises from synchrotron emission, the kinetic mechanisms giving rise to X-ray emission in the nonpulsar SNRs are not understood. Results of Einstein Observatory solid state spectrometer measurements of the Cas A, Tycho and Puppis A are then presented which are fit by two-temperature thermal spectra, and the Crab SNR, fit by a power-law model. Spectral trends in the older and younger SNRs are pointed out, and the role of Einstein imaging data in future detailed modeling necessary to convert apparent abundances into true abundances is indicated.

Holt, S. S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Superposition of supernovae remnant imagery

The superposition of the X-ray, optical, and radio imagery of supernova remnants in the Cygnus Loop region is described. The radio data of the region was obtained using the Westerbork interferometer, and the optical image was recorded by the NASA Wide Field Camera. The X-ray imagery was obtained using the High Resolution Imager. The mechanisms by which the supernova ejecta and the swept-up material shock the interstellar medium are studied by the resampling of the imagery onto a common celestial grid. The initial results indicate a radio arc in the northeastern portion of the region that is along the faintest outermost filaments, and a separate radio arc along the brightest filaments.

Henden, A. A.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The infrared emission from supernova condensates

The possibility of detecting grains formed in supernovae by observations of their emission in the infrared is examined. The basic processes determining the temperature and infrared radiation of grains in supernova environments are analyzed, and the results are used to estimate the infrared emission from the highly metal enriched fast moving knots in Cas A. The predicted fluxes lie within the reach of current ground-based facilities at 10 microns, and their emission should be detectable throughout the infrared band with cryogenic space telescopes.

Dwek, E.↗
NASA NTRS1981

A compressed cloud in the Vela supernova remnant

Strong interstellar absorption lines of C I, arising from the two excited fine-structure levels, are found in IUE observations of HD 72350 (type B4 III). An analysis of the excited-level populations of C I gives local temperature and pressure limits, and auxiliary data on the limit of column density for excited O I and the carbon ionization help to establish that (1) the local temperature is within the limits of 25-100 K, and (2) the pressure/Boltzmann's constant ratio is at least 10 to the 4.3/cu cm K, despite its small size. This high-pressure cloud is discussed in terms of shock compression by the Vela supernova blast wave, along with the relationship of this kind of cloud compression to star formation and to the origin of the characteristic filamentary emission arcs seen in Vela and other supernova remnants

Jenkins, E. B.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Monte Carlo study of neutrino acceleration in supernova shocks

The first order Fermi acceleration mechanism of cosmic rays in shocks may be at work for neutrinos in supernova shocks when the latter are at densities greater than 10 to the 13th g/cu cm, at which the core material is opaque to neutrinos. A Monte Carlo approach to study this effect is employed, and the emerging neutrino power law spectra are presented. The increased energy acquired by the neutrinos may facilitate their detection in supernova explosions and provide information about the physics of collapse.

Kazanas, D.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Gamma ray lines from buried supernovae

An investigation is conducted concerning the possibility that supernovae (SN), located in dense interstellar clouds, might become the sources of gamma ray lines. The SN progenitor, in such a case, has to be an O or B star so that its evolutionary lifetime is short, and an explosion inside the cloud is still possible. It is shown that, in principle, a measurement of the abundances in the ejecta is possible. Attention is given to the characteristics of a model, the expected luminosity of gamma-ray lines, and the study of specific numerical examples for testing the feasibility of the considered mechanism. On the basis of the obtained results, it is concluded that gamma-ray line production by collisional excitation in confined supernovae remnants may be quite important.

Morfill, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1981

X-ray imaging - Supernova remnants

Consideration is given to imaging observations of supernova remnants (SNRs) obtained during the first year of the Einstein Observatory's operation. Inferences are drawn regarding models for stellar explosions, remnant evolution, neutron star formation and the interstellar medium. Because the X-ray emission traces the expanding shock boundary and dominates the radiative energy losses of an SNR over much of its lifetime, it can provide data on the possible collapsed remnants of the explosion, such as neutron stars and/or black holes. X-ray emission also allows a supernova shock to be used as a probe of interstellar medium structure. The imaging instrument aboard the Einstein satellite has been used to observe over 30 known Galactic remnants, and a similar number of objects in other galaxies, in the 0.15-4.5 keV band.

Helfand, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Supernova and cosmic rays

A general overview of supernova astronomy is presented, followed by a discussion of the relationship between SN and galactic cosmic rays. Pre-supernova evolution is traced to core collapse, explosion, and mass ejection. The two types of SN light curves are discussed in terms of their causes, and the different nucleosynthetic processes inside SNs are reviewed. Physical events in SN remnants are discussed. The three main connections between cosmic rays and SNs, the energy requirement, the acceleration mechanism, and the detailed composition of CR, are detailed.

Wefel, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Very high resolution observations of the radio source in the supernova remnant G127.1+0.5

The results of recent very long baseline interferometry of G127.11+0.54 at 10.65 GHz reveal a core dual 'jet' structure. The morphology and physical properties of the compact source are similar to those of SS 433. The combined data from various studies of this object suggest that G127.11+0.54 may be the stellar remnant of the supernova event which also produced the supernova remnant G127.1+0.5.

Geldzahler, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

X-ray emission from young supernova remnants - Nonionization equilibrium abundances and emissivities

X-ray line emission from hot, low-density plasma in young supernova remnants is strongly enhanced by departures from ionization equilibrium. The X-ray emission from a Sedov blast wave has been calculated using a nonequilibrium evolutionary treatment of the ionization structure, and the resulting spectrum has been fitted to HEAO 2 SSS data for Tycho's remnant. These models yield dramatically different elemental abundances for heavy elements (Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe), compared with two-temperature component equilibrium models of Becker et al. (1979, 1980). Nonequilibrium broad-band X-ray emissivities result in lower mass determinations for the supernova ejecta. Areas of further improvement of remnant X-ray modeling are suggested.

Shull, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Acoustic waves in supernova remnants

When the Mach number of a supernova shock wave, propagating through the hot interstellar gas, is less than the critical value 2.76, the interaction of the shock with an interstellar cloud produces a reflected pressure pulse that propagates away from the cloud as an acoustic wave. A preliminary analysis indicates that about 4% of the energy of an exploding supernova shell is converted into such waves. When the postshock gas temperature exceeds 2 x 10 to the 6th K, waves as short as 6 pc are damped in less than a wavelength, returning the energy to the hot gas. Longer waves, especially at late stages, are less strongly damped, and are superposed in the hot gas to create a fluctuating magnetoacoustic field, with typical periods of about 100,000 years. In the warm neutral clouds at temperatures of about 8000 K these waves are rapidly damped by plasma slip (ambipolar diffusion), providing a heat source that may account for the temperatures of these clouds.

Spitzer, L., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The X-ray surface brightness of Kepler's supernova remnant

The first X-ray images of Kepler's supernova remnant (SN Ophiuchi 1604) are presented, and consequences for SNR models are discussed. Observations made with the Einstein Observatory Imaging Proportional Counter and High Resolution Imager show the remnant to be circular, with a strong shell brighter in the north than in the south. A flux of 1.2 x 10 to the -10th ergs/sq cm per sec was measured in the 0.15-4.5 keV region, which corresponds to an X-ray luminosity of 1.0 x 10 to the 36th ergs/sec at a distance of 5 kpc and an interstellar medium density of 2.8 x 10 to the 21st/sq cm. The X-ray observations do not allow the determination of whether the SNR is in the adiabatic or free expansion phase, but in either case it is shown that the mean ISM density must be greater than about 0.1/cu cm. In addition, the density of the X-ray emitting gas must be high, and its electron temperature must be fairly low. The high ISM densities derived for Kepler's SNR and other SNRs thus suggest an atypical ISM, possibly influenced by mass lost from the pre-supernova star.

White, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The optical emission from the supernova remnant HB 3

The supernova remnant HB 3 was first detected as a radio source by Brown and Hazard (1953). On the basis of subsequent radio studies, it was concluded that the object was a supernova remnant (SNR). HB 3 is located at the far western edge of the H II region/molecular cloud complex W3-W4-W5 (IC 1795-1805-1848). However, a physical association of HB 3 with this complex is uncertain. In the present investigation, attention is called to the probability that HB 3 exhibits a more extensive optical emission structure than previously realized, and one which agrees well with both the position and morphology of the radio emission. It is found that narrow-passband optical images strongly suggest an almost complete optical emission shell for HB 3. Spectroscopic observations are, however, required to confirm that this emission is characteristic of a SNR.

Fesen, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Radioactive models of type 1 supernovae

In recent years, considerable progress has been made toward understanding Type I supernovae within the context of radioactive energy input. Much effort has gone into determining the peak magnitude of the supernovae, particularly in the B-band, and its relation to the Hubble constant. If the distances inferred for Type I events are at all accurate, and/or the Hubble constant has a value near 50 km per s per Mpc, it is clear that models must reach a peak magnitude approximately -20 in order to be consistent. The present investigation is concerned with models which achieve peak magnitudes near this value and contain 0.8 solar mass of Ni-56. The B-band light curve declines much more rapidly after peak than the bolometric light curve. The mass and velocity of Ni-56 (at least for the A models) are within the region defined by Axelrod (1980) for configurations which produce acceptable spectra at late times. The models are consistent with the absence of a neutron star after the explosion. There remain, however, many difficult problems.

Schurmann, S. R.↗
NASA NTRS1982

IUE observations of supernova remnants

Ultraviolet spectra of supernova remnants obtained with the IUE satellite provide unique information concerning the shock conditions and elemental abundances in the optically bright filaments. High temperature species such as N V provide diagnostics for shock velocities above 100 k/s, and strong lines of carbon and silicon in the IUE spectral range make it possible to study the destruction of refractory grains in shocked interstellar gas. Observations of a nonradiative shock at the edge of the Cygnus Loop provide constraints on the physics of the shock front itself. Most of the very young remnants whose optical spectra show anomalous elemental abundances are too highly reddened for IUE observations, but extensive observations of the Crab Nebula and a spectrum of the supernova remnant in NGC 4449 yield carbon to oxygen ratios from which the mass of the progenitor may be estimated.

Raymond, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1983

G29.7-0.3: another supernova remnant with an identity crisis

New radio and X-ray observations of the galactic supernova remnant G29.7-0.3 show that it is composed of two spectrally distinct components: a steep-spectrum, incomplete shell 3 arcmin in extent enclosing a flat-spectrum, X-ray emitting region 30 arcsec across. Thus, G29.7-0.3 joins the ranks of supernova remnants which exhibit a combination of Crab-like and shell remnant attributes. The Crab-like core has the highest ratio of X-ray radio luminosity of all the Crab-like remnants observed to date, suggesting that it is an extremely young object.

Becker, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Onion-shell model of cosmic ray acceleration in supernova remnants

A method is devised to approximate the spatially averaged momentum distribution function for the accelerated particles at the end of the active lifetime of a supernova remnant. The analysis is confined to the test particle approximation and adiabatic losses are oversimplified, but unsteady shock motion, evolving shock strength, and non-uniform gas flow effects on the accelerated particle spectrum are included. Monoenergetic protons are injected at the shock front. It is found that the dominant effect on the resultant accelerated particle spectrum is a changing spectral index with shock strength. High energy particles are produced in early phases, and the resultant distribution function is a slowly varying power law over several orders of magnitude, independent of the specific details of the supernova remnant.

Bogdan, T. J.↗
NASA NTRS1984

High-resolution IUE observations of interstellar absorption lines in the Vela supernova remnant

Ultraviolet spectra of 45 stars in the vicinity of the Vela supernova remnant were recorded by the short-wavelength echelle spectrograph aboard the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE). Over one-third of the stars show interstellar absorption lines at large radial velocities (greater than 60 km/s). The mapping of these high-velocity components in the sky suggests the motions are chaotic, rather than from a coherent expansion of the remnant material. In accord with earlier conclusions from Copernicus data, the gas at high velocity exhibits higher than normal ionization and shows substantially less depletion of nonvolatile elements than normal interstellar material at low velocities. Relatively strong lines from neutral carbon in the two excited fine-structure states indicate that the neutral clouds within the remnant have had their pressures enhanced by the passage of the blast wave from the supernova. Also, the remnant seems to show a significant enhancement in the abundances of low-velocity Si IV, C IV, and N V over those found in the general interstellar medium.

Jenkins, E. B.↗