| SN 1987A | |
|---|---|
Circumstellar rings around SN 1987A, with the ejecta from the supernova explosion at the center of the inner ring. |
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| Observation data (Epoch J2000.0) | |
| Supernova type | Type II-P (unusual) |
| Remnant type | unknown |
| Host galaxy | Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) |
| Constellation | Dorado |
| Right ascension | 05h 35m 28.03s (J2000) [1] |
| Declination | −69° 16′ 11.79″ (J2000) [1] |
| Galactic coordinates | unknown |
| Discovery date | 24 February 1987 (23:00 UTC) [2] |
| Peak magnitude (V) | +3 |
| Distance | 168,000 light-years, or 51.4 kpc |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Progenitor | Sanduleak -69° 202 |
| Progenitor type | B3 supergiant |
| Colour (B-V) | +0.085 |
| Notable features | Closest recorded supernova since invention of telescope |
SN 1987A was a supernova in the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs from Earth, approximately 168,000 light-years,[1] close enough that it was visible to the naked eye. It could be seen from the Southern Hemisphere. It was the closest observed supernova since SN 1604, which occurred in the Milky Way itself. The light from the supernova reached Earth on February 23, 1987. As it was the first supernova discovered in 1987, it was labeled "1987A". Its brightness peaked in May with an apparent magnitude of about 3 and slowly declined in the following months. It was the first opportunity for modern astronomers to see a supernova up close and observations have provided much insight into core-collapse supernovae. Voyager 2, then enroute to Neptune, was able to observe the supernova with its cameras.
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SN 1987A was discovered by Ian Shelton and Oscar Duhalde at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile on February 24, 1987, and within the same 24 hours independently by Albert Jones in New Zealand.[2] On March 4–12, 1987 it was observed from space by Astron, the largest ultraviolet space telescope of that time.[3]
Four days after the event was recorded, the progenitor star was tentatively identified as Sanduleak -69° 202, a blue supergiant. [5] This was an unexpected identification, because at the time a blue supergiant was not considered a possibility for a supernova event in existing models of high mass stellar evolution. Many models of the progenitor have attributed the color to its chemical composition, particularly the low levels of heavy elements, among other factors.[6] There has been some speculation that the star may have merged with a companion star prior to the supernova.[7] It is of note that the supernova of the blue giant Sanduleak -69° 202 was about one-tenth as luminous as the average observed type II supernova, which is associated with the denser makeup of the star. Since blue supergiant supernovae are not as bright as those generated by red supergiants, we would not expect to see as many of them, and so they might not be as rare or unusual as previously thought.
Approximately three hours before the visible light from SN 1987A reached the Earth, a burst of neutrinos was observed at three separate neutrino observatories. This is likely due to neutrino emission (which occurs simultaneously with core collapse) preceding the emission of visible light (which occurs only after the shock wave reaches the stellar surface).[8] At 7:35 a.m. Universal time, Kamiokande II detected 11 antineutrinos, IMB 8 antineutrinos and Baksan 5 antineutrinos, in a burst lasting less than 13 seconds. Approximately three hours earlier, the Mont Blanc liquid scintillator detected a five-neutrino burst, but this is generally not believed to be associated with SN 1987A.[6]
Although the actual neutrino count was only 24, it was a significant rise from the previously-observed background level. This was the first time neutrinos emitted from a supernova had been observed directly, which marked the beginning of neutrino astronomy. The observations were consistent with theoretical supernova models in which 99% of the energy of the collapse is radiated away in neutrinos. The observations are also consistent with the models' estimates of a total neutrino count of 1058 with a total energy of 1046 joules.[9]
The neutrino measurements allowed upper bounds on neutrino mass and charge, as well as the number of flavors of neutrinos and other properties.[6] For example, the data show that within 5% confidence, the rest mass of the electron neutrino is at most 16 eV. The data suggests that the total number of neutrino flavors is at most 8 but other observations and experiments give tighter estimates. Many of these results have since been confirmed or tightened by other neutrino experiments such as more careful analysis of solar neutrinos and atmospheric neutrinos as well as experiments with artificial neutrino sources.
SN 1987A appears to be a core-collapse supernova, which should result in a neutron star given the size of the original star.[6] Indeed, the neutrino data indicate that a compact object did form at the star's core. However, since the supernova first became visible, astronomers have been searching for the collapsed core but have not detected it. The Hubble Space Telescope has taken images of the supernova regularly since August 1990, but, so far, the images have shown no evidence of a neutron star. A number of possibilities for the 'missing' neutron star are being considered, although none is clearly favored. The first is that the neutron star is enshrouded in dense dust clouds so that it cannot be seen. Another is that a pulsar was formed, but with either an unusually large or small magnetic field. It is also possible that large amounts of material fell back on the neutron star, so that it further collapsed into a black hole. Neutron stars and black holes often give off light when material falls onto them. If there is a compact object in the supernova remnant, but no material to fall onto it, it could be very dim and therefore avoid detection. Other scenarios have also been considered, such as if the collapsed core became a quark star.[10][11]
The three bright rings around SN 1987A are material from the stellar wind of the progenitor. These rings were ionized by the ultraviolet flash from the supernova explosion, and consequently began emitting in various emission lines. These rings did not "turn on" until several months after the supernova, and the turn-on process can be very accurately studied through spectroscopy. The rings are large enough for their angular size to be measured accurately: the inner ring is 0.808 arcseconds in radius. Using the distance light must have traveled to light up the inner ring as the base of a right angle triangle, and the angular size as seen from the Earth for the local angle, one can use basic trigonometry to calculate the distance to SN1987A, which is about 168,000 light-years.[12] The material from the explosion is catching up with the material expelled during its red giant phase and heating it, so we observe ring structures around the star.
Around 2001 the expanding (>7000 km/s) supernova ejecta collided with the inner ring. This caused its heating and generation of X-rays—the X-ray flux from the ring increased by 3 times between 2001 and 2009. A part of the X-ray radiation, which is absorbed by the dense ejecta close to the center, is responsible for a comparable increase in the optical flux from the supernova remnant in 2001–2009. This increase of the brightness of the remnant reversed the trend observed before 2001, when the optical flux was decreasing due to decay of 44Ti isotope.[13]
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