Search results for "Supernova"
showing 10 items of 330 documents
Diving below the spin-down limit: Constraints on gravitational waves from the energetic young pulsar PSR J0537-6910
2021
We present a search for continuous gravitational-wave signals from the young, energetic X-ray pulsar PSR J0537-6910 using data from the second and third observing runs of LIGO and Virgo. The search is enabled by a contemporaneous timing ephemeris obtained using NICER data. The NICER ephemeris has also been extended through 2020 October and includes three new glitches. PSR J0537-6910 has the largest spin-down luminosity of any pulsar and is highly active with regards to glitches. Analyses of its long-term and inter-glitch braking indices provided intriguing evidence that its spin-down energy budget may include gravitational-wave emission from a time-varying mass quadrupole moment. Its 62 Hz …
Very Deep inside the SN 1987A Core Ejecta: Molecular Structures Seen in 3D
2017
Most massive stars end their lives in core-collapse supernova explosions and enrich the interstellar medium with explosively nucleosynthesized elements. Following core collapse, the explosion is subject to instabilities as the shock propagates outwards through the progenitor star. Observations of the composition and structure of the innermost regions of a core-collapse supernova provide a direct probe of the instabilities and nucleosynthetic products. SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is one of very few supernovae for which the inner ejecta can be spatially resolved but are not yet strongly affected by interaction with the surroundings. Our observations of SN 1987A with the Ataca…
Detection of X-ray flares from AX J1714.1-3912, the unidentified source near RX J1713.7-3946
2018
Molecular clouds are predicted to emit nonthermal X-rays when they are close to particle-accelerating supernova remnants (SNRs), and the hard X-ray source AX J1714.1-3912, near the SNR RX J1713.7-3946, has long been considered a candidate for diffuse nonthermal emission associated with cosmic rays diffusing from the remnant to a closeby molecular cloud. We aim at ascertaining the nature of this source by analyzing two dedicated X-ray observations performed with Suzaku and Chandra. We extracted images from the data in various energy bands, spectra, and light curves and studied the long-term evolution of the X-ray emission on the basis of the ~4.5 yr time separation between the two observatio…
XMM-Newton observation of the supernova remnant Kes 78 (G32.8-0.1): Evidence for shock-cloud interaction
2017
The Galactic supernova remnant Kes 78 is surrounded by dense molecular clouds, whose projected position overlaps with the extended HESS gamma-ray source HESS J1852-000. The X-ray emission from the remnant has been recently revealed by Suzaku observations, which have shown indications for a hard X-ray component in the spectra, possibly associated with synchrotron radiation. We aim at describing the spatial distribution of the physical properties of the X-ray emitting plasma and at revealing the effects of the interaction of the remnant with the inhomogeneous ambient medium. We also aim at investigating the origin of the gamma-ray emission, which may be Inverse Compton radiation associated wi…
Deep XMM-Newton Observations Reveal the Origin of Recombining Plasma in the Supernova Remnant W44
2019
Recent X-ray studies revealed over-ionized recombining plasmas (RPs) in a dozen mixed-morphology (MM) supernova remnants (SNRs). However, the physical process of the over-ionization has not been fully understood yet. Here we report on spatially resolved spectroscopy of X-ray emission from W44, one of the over-ionized MM-SNRs, using XMM-Newton data from deep observations, aiming to clarify the physical origin of the over-ionization. We find that combination of low electron temperature and low recombination timescale is achieved in the region interacting with dense molecular clouds. Moreover, a clear anti-correlation between the electron temperature and the recombining timescale is obtained f…
Massive Oe/Be stars at low metallicity: Candidate progenitors of long GRBs?
2010
At low metallicity the B-type stars rotate faster than at higher metallicity, typically in the SMC. As a consequence, it was expected a larger number of fast rotators in the SMC than in the Galaxy, in particular more Be/Oe stars. With the ESO-WFI in its slitless mode, the SMC open clusters were examined and an occurence of Be stars 3 to 5 times larger than in the Galaxy was found. The evolution of the angular rotational velocity seems to be the main key on the understanding of the specific behaviour and of the stellar evolution of such stars at different metallicities. With the results of this WFI study and using observational clues on the SMC WR stars and massive stars, as well as the theo…
Matter Mixing in Aspherical Core-collapse Supernovae: Three-dimensional Simulations with Single Star and Binary Merger Progenitor Models for SN 1987A
2019
We perform three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of aspherical core-collapse supernovae focusing on the matter mixing in SN 1987A. The impacts of four progenitor (pre-supernova) models and parameterized aspherical explosions are investigated. The four pre-supernova models include a blue supergiant (BSG) model based on a slow merger scenario developed recently for the progenitor of SN 1987A (Urushibata et al. 2018). The others are a BSG model based on a single star evolution and two red supergiant (RSG) models. Among the investigated explosion (simulation) models, a model with the binary merger progenitor model and with an asymmetric bipolar-like explosion, which invokes a jetlike explo…
Indication of a Pulsar Wind Nebula in the Hard X-Ray Emission from SN 1987A
2021
Since the day of its explosion, SN 1987A (SN87A) was closely monitored with the aim to study its evolution and to detect its central compact relic. The detection of neutrinos from the supernova strongly supports the formation of a neutron star (NS). However, the constant and fruitless search for this object has led to different hypotheses on its nature. Up to date, the detection in the ALMA data of a feature somehow compatible with the emission arising from a proto Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) is the only hint of the existence of such elusive compact object. Here we tackle this 33-years old issue by analyzing archived observations of SN87A performed Chandra and NuSTAR in different years. We fir…
Gravitational wave signature of proto-neutron star convection: I. MHD numerical simulations
2021
Gravitational waves provide a unique and powerful opportunity to constrain the dynamics in the interior of proto-neutron stars during core collapse supernovae. Convective motions play an important role in generating neutron stars magnetic fields, which could explain magnetar formation in the presence of fast rotation. We compute the gravitational wave emission from proto-neutron star convection and its associated dynamo, by post-processing three-dimensional MHD simulations of a model restricted to the convective zone in the anelastic approximation. We consider two different proto-neutron star structures representative of early times (with a convective layer) and late times (when the star is…
Revised rates for the stellar triple-alpha process from measurement of C-12 nuclear resonances
2005
4 pages, 3 figures.-- PMID: 15650733 [PubMed].