Deep JWST/NIRCam imaging of Supernova 1987A

Matsuura, Mikako ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5529-5593, Boyer, M., Arendt, Richard G., Larsson, J., Fransson, C., Rest, A., Ravi, A. P., Park, S., Cigan, P., Temim, T., Dwek, E., Barlow, M. J., Bouchet, P., Clayton, G., Chevalier, R., Danziger, J., De Buizer, J., De Looze, I., De Marchi, G., Fox, O., Gall, C., Gehrz, R. D., Gomez, H. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3398-0052, Indebetouw, R., Kangas, T., Kirchschlager, F., Kirshner, R., Lundqvist, P., Marcaide, J. M., Marti-Vidal, I., Meixner, M., Milisavljevic, D., Orlando, S., Otsuka, M., Priestley, F., Richards, A. M. S., Schmidt, F., Staveley-Smith, L., Smith, Nathan, Spyromilio, J., Vink, J., Wang, J., Watson, D., Wesson, R., Wheeler, J. C., Woodward, C. E., Zanardo, G., Alp, D. and Burrows, D. 2024. Deep JWST/NIRCam imaging of Supernova 1987A. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 532 (4) , pp. 3625-3642. 10.1093/mnras/stae1032

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Abstract

JWST/NIRCam obtained high angular-resolution (0.05–0.1”), deep near-infrared 1–5 m imaging of Supernova (SN) 1987A taken 35 years after the explosion. In the NIRCam images, we identify: 1) faint H2 crescents, which are emissions located between the ejecta and the equatorial ring, 2) a bar, which is a substructure of the ejecta, and 3) the bright 3–5 m continuum emission exterior to the equatorial ring. The emission of the remnant in the NIRCam 1–2.3 m images is mostly due to line emission, which is mostly emitted in the ejecta and in the hot spots within the equatorial ring. In contrast, the NIRCam 3–5 m images are dominated by continuum emission. In the ejecta, the continuum is due to dust, obscuring the centre of the ejecta. In contrast, in the ring and exterior to the ring, synchrotron emission contributes a substantial fraction to the continuum. Dust emission contributes to the continuum at outer spots and diffuse emission exterior to the ring, but little within the ring. This shows that dust cooling and destruction time scales are shorter than the synchrotron cooling time scale, and the time scale of hydrogen recombination in the ring is even longer than the synchrotron cooling time scale. With the advent of high sensitivity and high angular resolution images provided by JWST/NIRCam, our observations of SN 1987A demonstrate that NIRCam opens up a window to study particle-acceleration and shock physics in unprecedented details, probed by near-infrared synchrotron emission, building a precise picture of how a SN evolves.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0035-8711
Funders:	STFC Consolidated grant, European Research Council, Horizon 2020, NASA, STScI grant, Villum FondeN Young Investigator Grant, United States Air Force
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 April 2024
Date of Acceptance:	15 April 2024
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2024 10:43
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/168440

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