Speaker
Prof.
Robert Kirshner
(Harvard University)
Description
The Hubble Space Telescope programs dubbed SINS and SAINTS have been
underway since the launch of HST. The angular resolution of HST allows us to image
the many different parts of the supernova as it becomes a remnant, and the spectra,
especially in the UV, have helped us understand its chemistry and physics. SN
1987A was the best-observed supernova and is now becoming the best-observed
supernova remnant.
Some of the highlights include imaging the circumstellar rings, observing the
hotspots as they light up, resolving the debris and searching for the stellar remnant,
and now tracing how the interaction of the blast wave and the circumstellar ring
illuminate the properties of the explosion itself. The Stockholm group, especially
Claes Fransson, have been leaders in this work.
SN 1987A provides some useful lessons that can be applied to more distant
supernovae where we do not have the benefit of such detailed knowledge.
Primary author
Prof.
Robert Kirshner
(Harvard University)
