Polarization and visual intensity of the inner light echo around SN 1987A
1989; IOP Publishing; Volume: 347; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1086/185609
ISSN1538-4357
AutoresW. B. Sparks, Francesco Paresce, D. Macchetto,
Tópico(s)Astro and Planetary Science
Resumoview Abstract Citations (12) References (15) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Polarization and Visual Intensity of the Inner Light Echo around SN 1987A Sparks, William B. ; Paresce, Francesco ; Macchetto, Duccio Abstract The ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (EFOSC) operating in the coronographic mode on the 3.6 m telescope was used with a broad-band V filter and four linear polarizers oriented at position angles 0^deg^, 45^deg^, 90 ^deg^, and 135^deg^ to measure the total and polarized flux of radiation scattered from circumstellar material around SN 1987A. A faint arc of V band emission with a sharp inner and outer boundary centered on the supernova and of radius ~ 8.3" and width ~ 2.5" is clearly discernible above background, most prominently in the eastern quadrant between 45^deg^ and 135^deg^ position angle. Its azimuthally averaged surface brightness in this position angle range is 21.8 +/- 0.2 V mag arcsec^-2^. In this region, the detected radiation is found to be partially linearly polarized with a degree of polarization 0.15 +/- 0.04 and an electric vector orientation of ~ 0^deg^ position angle. These results indicate that the reflecting material is confined to a thin sheet or shell of column density ~10^18^-10^19^ atoms cm^-2^ located at ~3-5 pc from the SN which may have arisen from a previous red giant phase of the SN progenitor. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: December 1989 DOI: 10.1086/185609 Bibcode: 1989ApJ...347L..65S Keywords: Linear Polarization; Luminous Intensity; Optical Reflection; Stellar Envelopes; Supernova 1987a; Light Scattering; Polarization Characteristics; Astrophysics; POLARIZATION; STARS: CIRCUMSTELLAR SHELLS; STARS: SUPERNOVAE full text sources ADS | data products NED (2) SIMBAD (1)
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