44Ti gamma-ray emission lines from SN1987A reveal an asymmetric explosion
Abstract
In core-collapse supernovae, titanium-44 (44Ti) is produced in the innermost ejecta, in the layer of material directly on top of the newly formed compact object. As such, it provides a direct probe of the supernova engine. Observations of supernova 1987A (SN1987A) have resolved the 67.87- and 78.32-kilo-electron volt emission lines from decay of 44Ti produced in the supernova explosion. These lines are narrow and redshifted with a Doppler velocity of ~700 kilometers per second, direct evidence of large-scale asymmetry in the explosion.
- Publication:
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Science
- Pub Date:
- May 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.aaa2259
- Bibcode:
- 2015Sci...348..670B
- Keywords:
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- ASTRONOMY