GSFC: Suzaku Studies Supernova 'Crime Scene

bystander · Post by **bystander** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 5:20 am

Suzaku Studies Supernova 'Crime Scene,' Shows Single White Dwarf to Blame
NASA | Goddard Space Flight Center | Suzaku | 2015 Apr 02

[i]A study of 3C 397, a supernova remnant shown here in X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (purple) and Suzaku (blue), indicates the blast arose from a single white dwarf that accumulated matter from a normal companion star. [b]Image Credit: NASA/Suzaku and NASA/CXC, DSS, and NASA/JPL-Caltech[/b][/i]
Using archival data from the Japan-led Suzaku X-ray satellite, astronomers have determined the pre-explosion mass of a white dwarf star that blew up thousands of years ago. The measurement strongly suggests the explosion involved only a single white dwarf, ruling out a well-established alternative scenario involving a pair of merging white dwarfs.

"Mounting evidence indicates both of these mechanisms produce what we call type Ia supernovae," said lead researcher Hiroya Yamaguchi, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "To understand how these stars explode, we need to study the debris in detail with sensitive instruments like those on Suzaku."

The researchers analyzed archival observations of a supernova remnant named 3C 397, which is located about 33,000 light-years away in the constellation Aquila. Astronomers estimate this cloud of stellar debris has been expanding for between 1,000 and 2,000 years, making 3C 397 a middle-aged remnant. ...

A Chandrasekhar Mass Progenitor for the Type Ia Supernova Remnant 3C 397
from the Enhanced Abundances of Nickel and Manganese - Hiroya Yamaguchi et al

Astrophysical Journal Letters 801(2) L31 (10 Mar 2015) DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/801/2/L31
arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1502.04255 > 13 Feb 2015