National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: ON THE NATURE OF PULSAR RADIATION
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 237
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 238
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 239
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 240
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 241
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 242
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 243
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 244
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 245
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 246
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 247
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 248
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 249
Suggested Citation:"OBSERVING SN 1987A WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER." National Academy of Sciences. 1991. High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1851.
×
Page 250

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Observing SN 1987A with the International Ultraviolet Explorer ROBERT P. KIRSHNER Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics INTRODUCTION The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite has played a leading role in elucidating the nature of SN 1987A, providing a unique ultraviolet perspective on the brightest supernova since 1604. One funda- mental properly of the IUE project proved essential: it is a satellite whose program can be rapidly changed to take advantage of scientific opportu- nities. On both sides of the Atlantic, there was a target-of-opportunity proposal in place, so that an orders, though very exciting, series of ob- servatior~s was carried out starting within 4 hours of the first report, on February 24, 1987, as recounted by de Vorken (1988) and by Kirshner (1988~. IVE observations of SN 1987A began promptly after the discovery and have been frequent through 1988 and 1989, using the FES for photometry, low dispersion spectra for the supernova spectrum as described in the next section, high dispersion observations for the interstellar medium when the supernova was bright (see below), and for circumstellar gas surrounding the supernova as the initial event faded (see below). The UV data have been especially useful in determining which star exploded, assessing the ionizing pulse produced as the shock hit the surface of the star, and in constraining the stellar evolution that preceded the explosion through observations of a circumstellar shell. These discoveries are placed in a broader context by the review of Arnett et al (1989) and earlier reports on the ultraviolet data are summarized by Kirshner (19~. The ultraviolet spectrum of the supernova itself is produced by the superposition of many lines of Fe, Co, and other elements in the stellar photosphere, and it has remained opaque 237

238 AMERICAN AND SOVIET PERSPECTIVES long after the infrared and optical have changed to emission-line spectra. High-dispersion IUE observations provide a detailed look at the ionization structure of the line-of-sight to the supernova, both in our Galaxy and in the LMC. Future observations will include a UV observation of the light echo, monitoring the decay of the circumstellar emission, and perhaps a glimpse into the enriched material that was formerly the interior of Sanduleak ~9 20Z Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud has moved the sub- ject of supernovae from plausible argument to observational demonstration ~ a number of areas and the IUE observations have helped in essen- tial ways. While the supernova was the first visible to the unaided eye since Kepler's 16~ supernova, retinal observations have not proved the most novel Instead, the advances in technology, including geosynchronous satellites, have provided the data for real insight. The Large Magellanic Cloud is ideally placed for observation: circumpolar for the outstanding observatories of the Southern hemisphere, it is also near the ecliptic pole, facilitating observations with the IUE at almost any time of the year. The observations gathered over the entire spectrum from radio to gamma rays and the direct detection of neutrinos from SN 1987A have helped sketch the most complete picture of the life and death of a massive star. A combination of stellar evolution theory and astronomical obsena- tion supports the picture that one class of supernova explosions (13 pe II) results from massive stars, which release 1053 ergs of neutrinos as their iron cores collapse to become neutron stars (Woosley and Weaver 1986~. In a remarkable leap of scientific intuition, the essence of this picture was sketched by Baade and Zwicky (1933), shortly after the discovery of the neutron. Testing this picture for SN 1987A required neutnno detectors, which caught enough of the neutrinos to make a convincing case that we understand the binding energy of a neutron star, as well as the tempera- ture and duration of the neutrino emission (Bahcall 1989~. The neutrino observations provide a fiducial point: the moment of core collapse at 1987 FebruaIy 23.316. One interesting sidelight (see section Future Observations of SN 1987A) is that UV observations of a light echo may provide a way to obsene the flux emitted from the surface of the star in the hours between the arrival of the shock and the discovery of the supernova by Ian Shelton on February 24.23 (Madore and Kunkel 1987~. A key part of this picture was the identification of the star which exploded. As descried in the section "Circumstellar Matters," IUE provided essential data to identifier directly the massive progenitor. This is the first time that a pre-supernova star has been observed, and the star is Sanduleak ~9 202, a B3 ~ star of about 20 solar masses. Many of the unique features of SN 1987A as observed in the ultraviolet trace their origin to the explosion of a blue supergiant, rather than the red supergiants favored for most extragalactic

HIGH-ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS 239 SN II's. IUE observations of a nitrogen-nch circumstellar shell help trace the stellar evolution of SK -69 202 into the recent past, as described in the section on the Ultraviolet Echo. Supernovae are essential players in the chemical enrichment of the universe. When the star destroys itself, the accumulated products of stel- lar energy generation such as helium, nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, calcium and silicon are dispersed into the interstellar gas along with the elements synthesized in the explosion, such as the radioactive isotopes of the iron peat The chemistry of the stellar interior can now be probed by infrared observations (Rank et al. 1988), and the gamma ray detections (Matz et al. 1988) provide strong proof that radioactive 56Ni is produced in the explosion. The indirect effects of the energy release are seen in the light curve, measured with the Fine Error Sensor on IUE, as presented in in the first section, but the direct measurement of the interior composition through ultraviolet lines will occur only after the opaque atmosphere turns transparent Clues to a possible neutron star remnant may also be embed- ded in the light curio for SN 1987A, but the resolution of these tantalizing questions lies in the future. OBSERVATIONS The first IUE spectra of SN1987A were taken from Goddard on the afternoon of Tuesday, February 24, about 4 hours after the report from the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. The first frame of 15 seconds duration was heavily overexposed, and good low dispersion spectra were eventually obtained with 1.5 second exposures. lithe initial spectra were unlike the other IUE spectra of supernovae (Blair and Panagia 1987, Benvenuti e! al. 19823, and changed very rapidly in the first few days of observation. Interestingly, by February 26 the TJV spectrum of SN 1987A resembled the spectrum of a lope I supernova (SN I) as seen in the ultraviolet, while the combined optical and UV spectrum showed that the supernova had distinct hydrogen Balmer lines: the iden~ing criterion for SN II. The solution to this paradox is straightforward: in SN I, as show by Branch and Venkataknshna (19863 and in the atmosphere of the blue supergiant SK ~9 202, as shown by Luc y (1987) the strong blended lines of Fe II and Co II dominate the opacity in the ultraviolet region of interest. In SN II, like SN 1979C, the analysis of Fransson et al. (1984) shows that the slow, dense wind of a red supergiant plays a key role in determining the UV spectrum. The conspicuous P-gygni lines in the UV and optical indicated an initial expansion velocity near 30,000 km/see in the first hours of observation and a temperature near 14,000 K Model atmospheres for SN 1987A have been calculated by Eastman and Kirshner (1989) which provide a good

240 AMERICAN AND SOVIET PERSPECTIVES understanding of the effects of scattering and spherical geometry in the expanding atmosphere. These models allow the distance to the LMC to be determined by the Expanding Photosphere Method (Kirchner and Kwan 1974~: the result of 50 ~ 6 kpc is in good accord with the distances found from Cepheids and from RR Lyrae stars (Walker 1987; WaLker and Mack 1988), and raises the prospect of using Sly II as an important tool in establishing the extragalactic distance scale. The apparent velocity declined rapidly as the fastest-moving layers turned transparent, and the temperature declined rapidly as the supernova atmosphere expanded and cooled adiabatically. The effect on the ultravi- olet flux was profound: both the cooling and the onset of powerful line blanketing combined to reduce the UV flux in the SWP range by a factor of 1,000 in the first three days. The level flux at later times is due to the presence of the two B stars near SK -69 202 which are in the IUE aperture. The plummeting UV seen on Feb 24 is presumably the cooling tail of a much hotter photosphere which must have been present on Feb 23, when the shock from the stellar interior first reached the surface of Sk -69 202 about 2 hours after core collapse. Theoretical calculations show that the temperature might have reached the range of 2-5 x 106 K for a brief time on Feb 23. This ultraviolet flash is the source of photoionization of the circumstellar matter, as described in the section on circumstellar matters, where ionization up to N V is observed. Another way to detect the ultraviolet hash emitted before the supernova was discovered is through its UV echo from interstellar dust, as described in the section on the Ultraviolet Echo. Empincal evidence that the surface of the Sanduleak star was very hot comes from the photograph of the LMC taken by McNaught (1987) on February 23.443, which showed that SN 1987A was already at about mag 6. The product of velocity and age requires a temperature of order 100,000 K to produce the observed flub 1b press the UV obsenations back to the earliest possible moment, we have begun to examine the badly over-exposed images taken in the first attempts to get IUE spectra of SN 1987A In the depths of the absorption lines, and in the regions of the spectrum where {UK has the least sensitivity, some reliable measurements may be recovered which will help trace the arrival of the shock at the surface of the Sanduleak star. Following the dramatic changes of the first days, the IUE spectrum of SN 1987A has remained remarkably constant. There are changes in the UV flux through this penod, but the spectrum, set by the atomic physics of photosphexic iron and cobalt shows only subtle variations. Although the optical spectrum is now dominated by strong emission lines which arise from material that was originally far below the photosphere of the star, the UV photosphere has remained opaque. Although there have been predictions of a "UV Renaissance" when the ultraviolet finally turns

HIGH-ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS 241 transparent (McCray e! al. 1987), Figure 1 indicates that we must first endure the ultraviolet Dark Ages of 1989. 1b obtain Figure 1, the LWP spectra have been integrated over broad wavelength intervals. Ultraviolet observations of the material from the stellar interior should eventually prove very helpful in determining the mass of carbon, magnesium, and silicon produced by SN 1987A, but that time has not yet arrived. These elements are important in comparing the observed composition for SN 1987A with the theoretical results for massive star evolution, and they are difficult to observe at optical wavelengths. Measurements from the Fine Error Sensor have proved surprisingly accurate and useful in monitoring the flux from SN 1987N Even though the FES was never intended as an accurate photometer, we have found that careful attention to calibration by a standard star during the same observing session produces a marked decrease in the random errors of FES measurements. While the carefully integrated bolometric measures of the Cerro lblolo workers (Suntzeff et al. 19~3) and of the South African group (Whitelock 1988) are the primary data for comparing the radiative output of SN 1987A with models, the FES data are instructive, illustrating every major feature of the bolometnc light curve, as shown in Figure 2. The familiar features of the rise to maximum in late May 1987, the long exponential tail from age 110 days to 300 days, and the subsequent drop below the extrapolated output of 56Co are all illustrated in the FES light cube. The most recent data show that the steepening decline in the FES light curse has abated. One possible interpretation is that a constant source at a luminosity of 5 x 1~37 erg/see is now contributing to the SN 1987A light curve. Whether this is related to the putative pulsar (Kristian et al. 1989) or possible accretion onto the neutron star (Chevalier 1989) remains to be seen. The FES measurements will continue, unaffected by weather or seeing and never vulnerable to the errors that accrue at large hour angles! Ultimately, contamination from the neighboring stars will become a serious problem, and only the superb images of HST will permit a light curve for SN 1987A into the 1990's. The UV light curies of Figure 1 show a distinctly different behavior. While they share the rise to maximum seen in the FES data, they did not experience the long exponential decline. Evidently, the small fraction of the energy coming out in the UV rose during that period, presumably as a result of decreasing line blanketing. The future of the UV light curio is hard to predict, but it may show a dramatic change when the spectrum changes to emission lines. IN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TOWARDS SN 1987A Although SN 1987A reached its maximum bolometric luminosity in

242 - tQ C\2 c) sit a) cot - o ~ 1 _ 2000 1 000 500 rig 200 1 ~ to AMERICAN AND SOVIET PERSPECTIVES 1 j 1 1 1 ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' 1 ~_ -oh a A ~- I' In' 100 50 ~SN 1 987A F LONG WAVELENGTH ULTRAVIOLET /\2000 ~ - 2450 02500 ~ - 3000 03000 ~ - 3200 1 1987.5 1988 1988.5 1989 1989.5 Year FIGURE 1 1be long wavelength light come of SN 1987A as observed with IUE. late May 1987, the rapid decline in the UV flux made the fruitful time for high resolutions observations very brief. During February 24 and 25, IUE high resolution spectra were obtained which provided the best signal-tin noise for study of the interstellar gas from Earth to the Sanduleak star. The brightness of the supernova as a background source allowed much shorter exposures than previous studies of the ISM toward the LMC were compelled to use, and the resulting particle background in the data was much lower. Because the dine span for obtaining these exquisite data was

HIGH-ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS 4 6 _ _ To ~8 0 243 ~ i I ~ i I I ~ I i I T 1- 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i ~ I I J - -a 1 SN 1 987A 12 _ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1, I 1 1 1 1,, 1 1 1 1 , 1 ~ 300 400 500 600 - ,~, , JO .~1 I I 1 1,,,, 1 1 1 ~ ~ 1 _ - APT , , 1 , . . . 700 800 900 0 1 Do 200 Days from v-Burst FIGURE 2 An optical light curve for SN 1987A as observed with the Fine Error Sensor on IUE. short, there was little opportunity to study the time-dependent effects of the ionizing flash from SN 1987A, but the very high quality of the data that were obtained not only allowed them to confirm kinematic results obtained at higher resolution from the ground but to extend them by providing the chemical composition of the intervening absorbers. Several velocity components were detected in a wide range of ionization stages ranging from neutral gas to triply ionized carbon (de Boer et al. 1987, Dupree et al. 19g7, Blades et al. 1988a,b, Savage e! al. 1989~. The observed UV absorption components to SN 1987A have a velocity distribution which is similar to that observed on the lines of sight to other stars in the LMC (e.g., Savage and de Boer 1979; Savage 1986) and which agrees with the main optical absorption systems found by Andreani et al. (1987) in the spectrum of SN 1987N The absorption features over the velocity range from O to +3001~/sec arise in the disk and halo of our Galaxy and in the EMC. While it is not controversial to assign the adsorptions with v > 200 km/see to gas in the LMC and those with v < 70 hn/sec to our Galaxy, intermediate velocities require more discussion. An abundance analysis of the intermediate velocity components at 129 and 171 km/see by Blades et al. (1988a) shows that they are not intergalactic clouds, but belong to the LMC. These clouds may

244 AMERICAN AND SOVIET PERSPECTIVES have their origins in gas that is stepped by tidal interactions or may arise from w~nd-dr~ven shells or supernova remnants in the LMC. The absence of N V absorption in the spectrum of SN 1987A has been used by Fransson et al. (1987) to constrain the luminosity of the UV flash. From the observed upper limit to N V absorption, they derived an upper limit to the N V column density of 3 x 10~4 cm-2 and inferred a limit to the number of ionizing photons S < 1.6 x 105 7/n2 (where n is the ambient density for a temperature Teff = 5 x 105 K Comparison with models for the shock arriving at the surface of a star (Klein and Chevalier 1978) shows that a red supergiant would produce too much ionization, but a blue supergiant, such as SK -69 202 would be a good match to the observational constraint. CIRCUMSTELLAR MATTERS Blue supergiants like SK -69 202 often have low density, high velocity stellar winds, but IUE observations of SN 1987A show that this star had a dense circumstellar shell that resulted from an interesting stellar history. The weak radio emission from SN 1987A ~Ibrtle et al. 1987) was inter- preted (Chevalier and Fransson 1987) as arising from a shock in the low density blue supergiant wind of SK ~9 202. After 1987 May 24, the short wavelength IUE spectra began to show evidence for narrow emission lines, as shown in Figure 3. Here the flux from the two neighboring stars as observed in March 1987 has been subtracted from the subsequent spectra. The observed lines Include He II, C III, N III, N IV, N V and O ITI, and they increased in strength with lime. The observed velocities are low, and the velocity widths of the lines are unresolved at the low dispersion, implying velocities less than 1,000 hn/sec. All of these clues point toward a circumstellar origin for the emission lines. First, the fact that we can see the emission, while the supernova photosphere is opaque to the UV implies that the source of the emission is outside the expanding star. Second, the low velocities do not correspond to the debris, where the characteristic velocities are a few thousand parsec. The great strength of the nitrogen lines is consistent with the CNO-ennched composition of material that results from a massive star's mass loss (Chevalier 1987; Fransson et al. 1989) and constrains the history of SK -69 20Z The excitation of this circumstellar shell results from the UV flash that took place when the shock traversing the Sanduleak star hit the surface. This initial pulse of energy would have been very hot (T > 105 K) and brief (<1 hour). Since the supernova was not discovered on the day of the neu~ino burst, but the day after, the declining UV seen on 24 February was just the tail of this violent UV flash. The observed UV flux from the circNmstellar shell increased with time

HIGH-ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS 1.0 0.8 0.6 x 0.4 0.0 245 I ' 1' ' ' ~ I,,, ~ I ~ ~ ' ' I ' ' ' ' I ' ' ' I I I I I - SN 1987A ~ 8 Oct 1987 - 21 Apr 1988 Averaged - _ March 1987 Subtracted v ~ 02 t _ 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 WAVELENGTH (A) FIGURE 3 Averaged spectrum of the narrow emission lines from the circumstellar shell of SN 1987^ The spectrum of stars 2 and 3, as observed in March 1987 is subtracted from the subsequent spectra. until 400 days after the explosion, then began a symmetric decline, at least in some lines. A plausible geometrical picture for the fluorescent material is a shell at a distance of 200 light days from the supernova site. Light travel times are important in determining the observed flux, and this dimension of order 5 x 10~7 cm is indicated by the duration of the increase. The spatial extent of this shell would be about one arc second, not measurable with IUE, but well within the reach of HST. Because the flux increased, high dispersion TUE measurements of the circumstellar lines were possible. They remain unresolved at 30 km/see resolution. The observed line ratios are consistent with a density of order 104 in the emitting gas, and ground based observations of narrow tO III] help determine the temperature at about 45,000 K (Wampler and Richichi 1988~. Win the physical conditions reasonably well determined, the chemical abundances result from a nebular analysis. Fransson et al. find N/C = 7.8 it 4 and N/O = 1.6 ~ 0.8. These are respectively factors of 37 and 12 higher man the solar values, implying that the gas has undergone substantial CNO processing. To reveal CNO-processed material at the

246 AMERICAN AND SOVIET PERSPECTIVES surface, the progenitor of SN 1987A is likely to have lost much of its hydrogen envelope before the explosion. This, and the existence of the shell, are consistent with models where a red supergiant evolves to the blue supergiant stage before exploding. High nitrogen abundance was also found in the c~rcumstellar matter of an earlier SN II with IUE (Fransson et; al. 19841. There, the explosion took place while He star was a red supergiant: here, the circumstellar matter was evident ejected from the star as a red supergiant, but the star evolved to the blue before exploding. Thus the IUE observations help establish the history of SK ~9 202 for the 2O,000 years before it exploded. Matching the path in the H-R diagram and the chemical composition of the circumstellar matter has proved a challenging task for theorists, who were already struggling with the question of why the star exploded as a blue supergiant. The evolution from blue (on the main sequence) to red (as a mass-losing red supergiant) back to the blue (to explode as a B3 Ia star) has been examined, for example, by Saio et aL (1988~. Key ingredients seem to be the lower heavy element abundance in the LMC, thorough mixing of hydrogen-burning products, and substantial mass loss as a red supergiant. One prediction based on the presence of a circumstellar shell is that the rapidly expanding debris, moving at 1/10 c, will strike the shell, at 1/2 light year, in the next several years. So for the end of the century, we may expect a recrudescence of SN 1987A, with a hot shock interaction producing copious X-rays and perhaps renewed nonthermal radio emission. TlIE ULTRAVIOLET ECHO? The discovery of two echo rings in the optical (Crofts 1988; Rosa 1988; Heathcote et al. 1988; and a third echo ring reported by Bond et al. 1989) attributed to dust scattering of light from the supernova by matter in the LMC, has provided the opportunity for an interesting {UK investigation. In the optical, the rings reflect light from the optical maximum observed In May 1987. This is demonstrated by spectra of the nags taken in 19~, in which the light from the rings has the spectrum of the supernova in May, 1987. The expected UV ring would be the result of the UV maximum, the brief flash of UV emitted in the first hours of the event This means that, if detected, the UV echo could provide direct information on the supernova spectrum at the time of shock breakout: the observations would show the properties of the supernova before discovery' From an inspection of the optical images of the echo rings and a comparison with preplan images, the brightest patch of the inner nag was selected for the JUE observation (Gilmozzi 1988), since a simple calculation following Chevalier and Emmering (1988) shows that the UV echo should be just a few arcsec external to the optical ring. The ring was observed

HIGH-ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS 247 on 1 May, 1988, with the long axis of the IUE aperture perpendicular to the ring, to obtain spatial information on the distribution of UV light. A second, longer exposure on May 25 confirms the presence of a weak UV signal Although the feature near 1550 A may be spurious, the rise around 125OA Is reaL No background star contamination is expected, since the slit location includes no stars brighter than 18 may. The coincidence of the emission and the calculated position for the echo are consistent with the flux observed arising from a UV echo. However, there is still the possibility that the emission is due to diffuse matter scattering the light from nearby hot stars. The key test is to observe the same location in 1989: if the flux is still present, it is not due to the echo ring, which will have expanded to a larger diameter. If the detected signal is the UV echo, the spatial extent of the emission (about 5 arc minutes) is a good measure of the thickness of the scattering cloud, since the UV emission is the echo of a very brief event (Chevalier and Emmering 1988~. The derived cloud thickness is about 40 pc, which agrees well with the upper limit of 50 pc derived from the optical observations. The flux from the UV echo, if confirmed, will also be instructive. If it is of the same order as the optical echo, this implies that the energy emitted in the UV represents about 10% of the total energy radiated by the supernova. Since the optical maximum lasted at least 100 tunes as long as the UV peak (two months compared to less than a day), and the scattering efficiency in the UV is about 10 times better (Chevalier and Emmenng 1988), then equal observed flmes would imptr that me integrated UV luminosity was about 10% of the bolometric luminosity radiated near the SN peak If this observation Is confirmed, it will provide a useful constraint on theoretical models of the outburst. While the case is not yet proven, the IUE results provide the tantalizing possibility of detecting a signal which was emitted two days before the IUE first pointed at SN 1987A' and which may prove useful in understanding the physics of supernova explosions. FUTURE OBSERVATIONS OF SN 1987A IUE observations of SN 1987A in 1989 and beyond will depend on the behavior of the supernova, but will surely include a diligent monitoring of the UV spectrum, with the hope that the opaque atmosphere will begin to turn transparent and reveal the internal composition of the now-vanished Sanduleak ~9 202. The changes in ionization of the circumstellar shell should provide a time-lapse view of the recombination of that gas, and an improved understanding of the physical setting for the emission. A

248 AMERICAN AND SOVIET PERSPECTIVES carefully planned observation of the UV echo position should provide the decisive test for that possible observation. Continued ultraviolet investigation of the supernova should continue with HST. Its powerful UV spectrometers will allow the interstellar medium near SN 1987A to be studied by looking in absorption at the nearby stars 2 and 3. The UV flux from the supernova itself will be safely resolved from those neighbors so it can be followed down to much fainter levels both ~ spectroscopic and photometric observations. The arcumstellar shell that IUE detects spectroscopically should be a good target for HST imaging. While {UK observations of the debris from the supernova hitting the circumste31ar shell would be interesting, it is reasonable to hope that when this event occurs in 1999 we will have another instrument to use! Finally, HST should be an effective tool for studying the expanding debris itself, and perhaps the pulsar within SN 1987N Even though we can anticipate these desirable observations, the most intriguing possibilities may be the observations that we have not yet conceived. The ability to change the observing program, sometimes on short notice, in response to events in the LMC rather than constraints imposed from Earth, is an essential part of studying an evolving object. The fact the target-of-opportunity proposals were in place, and that interested observers were ready to carry out a planned program of ob- senation is only half the story of the UV observations of SN 1987N The target~f-opportunity proposals focused on He aspects of supernovae which had been important in previous investigations: the explosion physics and the chemical analysis of the debris. But astronomy is an observational sci- ence and the observed objects have rarely read the proposals. In the case of SN 1987A, the contributions of IUE turned out to be especially important in areas that were not anticipated, using the satellite in ways which were not customary. For example, the identification of the progenitor by using the astrometry and the imaging properties of IUE was a useful contribu- tion that required novel use of IUE. Employing the FES as an accurate photometer was not anticipated, but new calibration methods make those measurements quite helpful. No one predicted that IUE short-wavelength observations of narrow emission lines from a fluorescent circumstellar shell would be a major constraint on the late stages of stellar evolution for the EMC supernova, but a careful background subtraction technique has made this a reality. While the jury is still out on the UV echo, there is a chance that the IUE observations may provide a glimpse of the supernova explosion's flux before it was discovered. The key ingredient in the success of the IUE observations of SN 1987A has been the ability to modify the observing program in response to the behavior of the supernova. On the first day, this meant a rapid change in schedule and real-time adjustment of exposure times. Later, it

HIGH-ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS 249 implied changing the balance of long and short wavelength exposures, and combing shifts for very long exposures. For the echo observations, it required precise choice of dates of observation In every case, the IUE Observatory has had the gentility to accommodate these requirements, and a deeper understanding of this unique event has been the result REFERENCES Andreani, P., R Ferlet, and A. V~dal-Majar. 1987. Nature 326: 770. Arnett, ~D., J.N Babcall, R.P. Kirchner, and S.E. Woosley. 1989. Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 27. Baade, W., and F. Zwicly. 1933. Phys. Rev 45: 138. Bahcall, J.N. 1989. Neutrino Astrophysics Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Benvenuti, P., et al. 198Z ESA SP-1046. Blades, J.C, J.M. Wheatley, N. Panagia, M. Grewing, M. Pettim, and W. Wamsteker 1988a. Ap. J (Lett.) 332: L75. Blades, J.C, J.M. Wheatley, N. Panagia, M. Grewing, M. Pettini, and W. Wamsteker. 1988b. Ap. J. 334: 308. Blair, W.P., and N. Panagia. 1987. In: Kondo, Y. (add. Exploring the Universe with IUE. Reidel. Branch, D., and AL Venkatakrishna. 1986. Ap. J. (Lottery 306: 121. Cassatella, A, J. Barbero, and P. Benvenuti. 1985. Astron. Astrophys 144: 335. Cassatella, A, C. Fransson, J. van Santvoort, C. Gry, ~ Talavera, ~ Wamsteker, and N. Panagia. 1987. Astron. Astrophys. 177: 129. Chevalier, R 1987. Nature 328: 44. Chevalier, MA 1989. Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. Chevalier, MA, and C Fransson. 1987. Nature 328: 44. Crotts, ~ 1988. IAU Circular no. 4561. de Boer, R. M. Grewing, 1: Richtler, W. Wamsteker, C Gay, and N. Panama. 1987. Astern. Astrophys. 177: L37. de Vorken, D. 19" Air and Space Smithsonian. Dupree, ~K, R.P. Kirshner, G.E. Nassiopoulos, J.C Raymond, and G. Sonneborn. 1987. Astrophys. J. 320 597. Fransson, C et al. 1984. Astron. ~trophys. 132: 1. Fransson, C, M. Grewing, A. Cassatella, N. Panagia, and ~ Wamsteker. 1987. Astron. Astrophys. 177: I At. Fransson, C, ~ Cassatella, R Gilmozi, R.P. Kirchner, N. Panagia, G. Sonneborn, and W. Wamsteker. 1989. Astrophys. J. 336: 429. Gilmozzi, R 1988. In: Couch, W. (ed.~. Elizabeth and Frederick White Research Conference on "Supernova 1987A" Prom Astron. Son Australia. In press. Gilmoz=, R. A. Cassatella, J. Gavel, ~ Fransson, R. Gonzalez, C G:y, N. Panagia, Palavers, and W. Wamsteker 1987. Nature 328: 318. Gay, C, A Cassatella, W. Wamsteker, L Sanz, N. Panagia. 1987. IAU Circular No. 4327. Heathcote, S., N. Suntze~, N. Caldwell, J. Huchm, and R. Ohmic. 1988. LOU Circular No. 4567. Kirshner, UP. 1988. National Geographic Magazine 173: 618. Kirshner, UP. 1988. In: A Decade of W Astronomy with the IUE Satellite. ESA SP-281. Kirshner, UP., and J. Kwan. 1974. Ap. J. 193: 27. Klein, R.I., and RA Chevalier. 197& Ap. J. (Lett.) 223: L109. Kristian, J., ~ al. 1989. Nature. Lucy, JOB. 1987. Astron. Astrophys. 182: L31. Madore, B., and W. Kunkel. 19g7. IAU Circular No. 4316. Matz, S.M., et al. 1988. Nature 331: 416. McCray, R., J.M. Shull, and P. Sutherland. 1987. Ap. J. Wetters) 317: L73.

250 AMERICAN AND SOYIET PERSPECTIVES McNaught, RH. 1987. IAU Circular No. 4316. Panagia, N., R. Gilmozzi, J. Clavel, M. Barylak, R. Gonzalez Riestra, ~ Lloyd, L Sanz Fernandez de Cordoba, and W. Wamsteker. 1987. Astron. Astrophys. 177: L25. Rank, D.M. et al. 1988. Nature 331: 505. Rosa, M. 1988. L9U Circular No. 4564. Saio, H., M. Kato, and K Nomoto. 1988. Ap. J. (Lett.~. Sanduleak, N. 1969. CTIO Publications no. 89. Savage, B. 1986. Proc. Joint NASAIESA/SERC Conf., ESA SP-263, page 259. Savage, B., and KS. de Boer. 1979. Astrophys. J. (Lett.) 230: LM. Savage, B., E.B. Jenldns, CL. Joseph, K.S. de Boer. 1988. W~sconsin Astrophysics preprint No. 295. Sonneborn, G., B. Altner, and R.P. Kinhner. 1987. Ap. J. (Lett) 323: L35. Sonneborn, G., and RP. Kirshner. 1987. IAU Circular No. 4333. Suntzeff, N.B., M. Hamuy, G. Martin, A Gomez, R. Gonzale~ 1988. ~ J. 96: 1864. Ihrtle, ~J., et al. 1987. Nature 327: 38. Walborn, N., B.M. Lasker, V.G. Laidler, and Y.-H. Chu. 1987. Ap. J. (Lett.) 320: L41. Wampler, EJ., and A. Richichi, ~ 1989. Astron. Astrophys ~lker, AR 1987. M.N.RNS. 225: 627. Walker, AR, and P. Mack. 1988. M.N.R^.S. West, RM., ~ Lauberts, H.E. Jorgensen, and H.-E. Shuster. 1987. Astron. Astrophys. 177: L1. Whitelock, P4, R.M. Catchpole, J.\U Menzies, M.W. Feast, H. Wmkler, et al. 1988. M.N.RA.S. 234: 5P. Woosley, S.E., and TN Weaver. 1986. Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys 24: 205. Woosley, S.E., P~ Pinto, P.G. Martin, and I:A. Weaver. 1987. Ap. J. 318: 664.

Next: QUASI-PERIODIC OSCILLATIONS IN LOW-MASS X-RAY BINARIES »
High-Energy Astrophysics: American and Soviet Perspectives/Proceedings from the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Workshop on High-Energy Astrophysics Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $65.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

During the past decade, the field of astrophysics has progressed at an impressive rate. This was reflected by the topics discussed at the workshop from which this book eminated. These topics include the inflationary universe; the large-scale structure of the universe; the diffuse X-ray background; gravitational lenses, quasars and active galactic nuclei; infrared galaxies; results from infrared astronomical satellites; supernova 1987A; millisecond radio pulsars; quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-ray flux of low-mass X-ray binaries; and gamma-ray bursts.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!