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Supernova Educator
GuideDr. Kevin McLinSSU E/PO Group
1
Monday, July 28, 2008
Find the supernova
Image: R. Jay GeBany
Supernova light curves
From Reiss et al. 1998
Bri
gh
tne
ss
Supernovae brighten very quickly, then fade slowly (exponentially) over time
t=0 for these plots occurs at maximum light.
The actual explosion begins days before that, but it’s hard to catch.
Rare Look at a Supernova
XRT UVOT
Swift Images of NGC 2770
2008 January 7:00 UT
Rare Look at a Supernova
Swift Images of NGC 2770
XRT UVOT2008 January 9:00 UT
X-ray Light curve of SN2008DThis is the first supernova ever to be “caught in the act.”
Due to a serendipitous pointing of Swift to study SN2007uy in the galaxy NGC 2770.
It caught the “shock breakout,” where the shock from the core is breaking out of the star’s surface.missed by about one minute
Core of WR star collapses
Resulting shock disrupts envelope
Resulting shock disrupts envelope Star explodes
http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~alicia/SN2008D/
Additional Information
Three Supernova Activities
•Fishing for Supernovae•Crawl of the Crab•Magnetic Poles and Pulsars
Three Supernova Activities
•Fishing for Supernovae•Crawl of the Crab•Magnetic Poles and Pulsars
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Three Supernova Activities
•Fishing for Supernovae•Crawl of the Crab•Magnetic Poles and Pulsars
Crawl of the Crab
Crawl of the CrabWe will use two pictures of the Crab Nebula
1956
1999
Crab Pulsar
Lots of Knots
Measuring Expansion Gives Age
1.Assume pulsar remains at center of nebula
2.The knots move over time
3.Using both images we can measure the rate of expansion
4.Compare rate to size, we have the age
Measuring Expansion Gives Age1.Use spreadsheet provided
2.Enter x,y pairs for each knot in the two images
3.Plot rate vs. distance and determine the slope of the line ( =slope(y_data,x_data) )
4.The age is the reciprocal of the slope
So, let’s get started!
