Multicolour 'Stokes' polarimetry of SN 1987A in the LMC.
Abstract
Multicolour linear and circular polarimetry of SN 1987A is presented for the first 75 days after core collapse. The observed linear polarization decreased from about 0.9 to 0.4 per cent and was independent of wavelength during the first 35 days, implying that the unresolved SN was very aspherical and that Thomson scattering was the dominant opacity during one stage of its early evolution. I discuss my results with respect to three models; a reflecting dust cloud, a plasma jet from the stellar core and, Rayleigh-Taylor instability in the atmosphere. The null detection of circular polarization is also discussed.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- October 1988
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/234.4.937
- Bibcode:
- 1988MNRAS.234..937B
- Keywords:
-
- Polarimetry;
- Stellar Models;
- Stellar Spectra;
- Supernova 1987a;
- Circular Polarization;
- Computational Astrophysics;
- Linear Polarization;
- Magellanic Clouds;
- Stellar Evolution;
- Astrophysics