English

JWST NIRSpec observations of Supernova 1987A -- from the inner ejecta to the reverse shock

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2023-06-07 v2 Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

Abstract

We present initial results from JWST NIRSpec integral field unit observations of the nearby Supernova (SN) 1987A. The observations provide the first spatially-resolved spectroscopy of the ejecta and equatorial ring (ER) over the 1-5 \mu m range. We construct 3D emissivity maps of the [Fe I] 1.443 \mu m line from the inner ejecta and the He I 1.083 \mu m line from the reverse shock (RS), where the former probes the explosion geometry and the latter traces the structure of the circumstellar medium. We also present a model for the integrated spectrum of the ejecta. The [Fe I] 3D map reveals a highly-asymmetric morphology resembling a broken dipole, dominated by two large clumps with velocities of ~2300 km/s. We also find evidence that the Fe-rich inner ejecta have started to interact with the RS. The RS surface traced by the He I line extends from just inside the ER to higher latitudes on both sides of the ER with a half-opening angle ~45 degrees, forming a bubble-like structure. The spectral model for the ejecta allows us to identify the many emission lines, including numerous H_2 lines. We find that the H_2 is most likely excited by far-UV emission, while the metal lines ratios are consistent with a combination of collisional excitation and recombination in the low-temperature ejecta. We also find several high-ionization coronal lines from the ER, requiring a temperature > 2 \times 10^6 K.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2302.03576,
  title  = {JWST NIRSpec observations of Supernova 1987A -- from the inner ejecta to the reverse shock},
  author = {J. Larsson and C. Fransson and B. Sargent and O. C. Jones and M. J. Barlow and P. Bouchet and M. Meixner and J. A. D. L. Blommaert and A. Coulais and O. D. Fox and R. Gastaud and A. Glasse and N. Habel and A. S. Hirschauer and J. Hjorth and J. Jaspers and P. J. Kavanagh and O. Krause and R. M. Lau and L. Lenkic and O. Nayak and A. Rest and T. Temim and T. Tikkanen and R. Wesson and G. S. Wright},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.03576},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in ApJL