Cassiopeia A and Its Clumpy Presupernova Wind | Zendy

Roger A. Chevalier | Zendy; Jeffrey S. Oishi | Zendy

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Cassiopeia A and Its Clumpy Presupernova Wind

Author(s) -

Roger A. Chevalier,

Jeffrey S. Oishi

Publication year - 2003

Publication title -

the astrophysical journal

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 2.376

H-Index - 489

eISSN - 1538-4357

pISSN - 0004-637X

DOI - 10.1086/377572

Subject(s) - cassiopeia a , physics , supernova , astrophysics , supernova remnant , shock wave , absorption (acoustics) , shock (circulatory) , astronomy , optics , mechanics , medicine

The observed shock wave positions and expansion in Cas A can be interpretedin a model of supernova interaction with a freely expanding stellar wind with amass loss rate of ~3e-5 Msun/yr for a wind velocity of 10 km/s. The wind wasprobably still being lost at the time of the supernova, which may have been ofType IIn or IIb. The wind may play a role in the formation of very fast knotsobserved in Cas A. In this model, the quasi-stationary flocculi (QSFs)represent clumps in the wind, with a density contrast of several 1000 comparedto the smooth wind. The outer, unshocked clumpy wind is photoionized byradiation from the supernova, and is observed as a patchy HII region around CasA. This gas has a lower density than the QSFs and is heated by nonradiativeshocks driven by the blast wave. Denser clumps have recombined and are observedas HI compact absorption features towards Cas A.Comment: 13 pages, ApJL, in pres

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