Full Spitzer IRAC obs. of SN1987A rise and fall

DOI

Spitzer's final Infrared Array Camera observations of SN 1987A show the 3.6 and 4.5{mu}m emission from the equatorial ring (ER) continues a period of steady decline. Deconvolution of the images reveals that the emission is dominated by the ring, not the ejecta, and is brightest on the west side. Decomposition of the marginally resolved emission also confirms this, and shows that the west side of the ER has been brightening relative to the other portions of the ER. The infrared morphological changes resemble those seen in both the soft X-ray emission and the optical emission. The integrated ER light curves at 3.6 and 4.5{mu}m are more similar to the optical light curves than the soft X-ray light curve, though differences would be expected if dust is responsible for this emission and its destruction is rapid. Future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope will continue to monitor the ER evolution, and will reveal the true spectrum and nature of the material responsible for the broadband emission at 3.6 and 4.5{mu}m. The present observations also serendipitously reveal a nearby variable source, subsequently identified as a Be star, that has gone through a multiyear outburst during the course of these observations.

Identifier
DOI http://doi.org/10.26093/cds/vizier.18900002
Source https://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/lp/custom/CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/890/2
Related Identifier https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/890/2
Related Identifier http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/890/2
Metadata Access http://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/pmh/pubreg.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_b2find&identifier=ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/890/2
Provenance
Creator Arendt R.G.; Dwek E.; Bouchet P.; Danziger I.J.; Gehrz R.D.; Park S.,Woodward C.E.
Publisher CDS
Publication Year 2021
Rights https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.html
OpenAccess true
Contact CDS support team <cds-question(at)unistra.fr>
Representation
Resource Type Dataset; AstroObjects
Discipline Astrophysics and Astronomy; Natural Sciences; Observational Astronomy; Physics; Stellar Astronomy