Supernovae. ⁴⁴Ti gamma-ray emission lines from SN1987A reveal an asymmetric explosion

S E Boggs; F A Harrison; H Miyasaka; B W Grefenstette; A Zoglauer; C L Fryer; S P Reynolds; D M Alexander; H An; D Barret; F E Christensen; W W Craig; K Forster; P Giommi; C J Hailey; A Hornstrup; T Kitaguchi; J E Koglin; K K Madsen; P H Mao; K Mori; M Perri; M J Pivovaroff; S Puccetti; V Rana; D Stern; N J Westergaard; W W Zhang

doi:10.1126/science.aaa2259

Supernovae. ⁴⁴Ti gamma-ray emission lines from SN1987A reveal an asymmetric explosion

Science. 2015 May 8;348(6235):670-1. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa2259.

Authors

S E Boggs¹, F A Harrison², H Miyasaka², B W Grefenstette², A Zoglauer³, C L Fryer⁴, S P Reynolds⁵, D M Alexander⁶, H An⁷, D Barret⁸, F E Christensen⁹, W W Craig¹⁰, K Forster², P Giommi¹¹, C J Hailey¹², A Hornstrup⁹, T Kitaguchi¹³, J E Koglin¹⁴, K K Madsen², P H Mao², K Mori¹², M Perri¹⁵, M J Pivovaroff¹⁶, S Puccetti¹⁵, V Rana², D Stern¹⁷, N J Westergaard⁹, W W Zhang¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. [email protected].
² Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
³ Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
⁴ CCS-2, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
⁵ Physics Department, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
⁶ Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
⁷ Department of Physics, McGill University, Rutherford Physics Building, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T8, Canada.
⁸ Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, IRAP, Toulouse, France. CNRS, Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, 9 Av. colonel Roche, BP 44346, F-31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France.
⁹ DTU Space, National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej 327, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
¹⁰ Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
¹¹ Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) Science Data Center, Via del Politecnico snc I-00133, Roma, Italy.
¹² Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
¹³ RIKEN Nishina Center, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan.
¹⁴ Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
¹⁵ Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) Science Data Center, Via del Politecnico snc I-00133, Roma, Italy. INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via di Frascati 33, I-00040 Monteporzio, Italy.
¹⁶ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
¹⁷ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
¹⁸ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.

PMID: 25954004
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa2259

Abstract

In core-collapse supernovae, titanium-44 ((44)Ti) is produced in the innermost ejecta, in the layer of material directly on top of the newly formed compact object. As such, it provides a direct probe of the supernova engine. Observations of supernova 1987A (SN1987A) have resolved the 67.87- and 78.32-kilo-electron volt emission lines from decay of (44)Ti produced in the supernova explosion. These lines are narrow and redshifted with a Doppler velocity of ~700 kilometers per second, direct evidence of large-scale asymmetry in the explosion.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.