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The Cassiopeia A Supernova Was of Type IIb

2008; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 320; Issue: 5880 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.1155788

1095-9203

O. Krause, Stephan M. Birkmann, Tomonori Usuda, Takashi Hattori, Miwa Goto, G. H. Rieke, K. A. Misselt,

Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research

Cassiopeia A is one of the youngest supernova remnants known in the Milky Way and a unique laboratory for supernova physics. We present an optical spectrum of the Cassiopeia A supernova near maximum brightness, obtained from observations of a scattered light echo - more than three centuries after the direct light of the explosion swept past Earth. The spectrum shows that Cassiopeia A was a type IIb supernova and originated from the collapse of the helium core of a red supergiant that had lost most of its hydrogen envelope prior to exploding. Our finding concludes a longstanding debate on the Cassiopeia A progenitor and provides new insight into supernova physics by linking the properties of the explosion to the wealth of knowledge about its remnant.