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Title:
High-Resolution X-Ray Imaging of Supernova Remnant 1987A
Authors:
Ng, C.-Y.; Gaensler, B. M.; Murray, S. S.; Slane, P. O.; Park, S.; Staveley-Smith, L.; Manchester, R. N.; Burrows, D. N.
Affiliation:
AA(Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ), AB(Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia ), AC(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA ), AD(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA ), AE(Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA ), AF(International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, School of Physics, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia ), AG(Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, Marsfield, NSW 1710, Australia), AH(Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA )
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 706, Issue 1, pp. L100-L105 (2009). (ApJL Homepage)
Publication Date:
11/2009
Origin:
IOP
ApJ Keywords:
circumstellar matter, shock waves, stars: neutron, supernova remnants, supernovae: individual: SN 1987A, X-rays: general
DOI:
10.1088/0004-637X/706/1/L100
Bibliographic Code:
2009ApJ...706L.100N

Abstract

We report observations of the remnant of supernova 1987A with the High Resolution Camera (HRC) on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. A direct image from the HRC resolves the annular structure of the X-ray remnant, confirming the morphology previously inferred by deconvolution of lower resolution data from the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer. Detailed spatial modeling shows that a thin ring plus a thin shell gives statistically the best description of the overall remnant structure, and suggests an outer radius of 0farcs96 ± 0farcs05 ± 0farcs03 for the X-ray-emitting region, with the two uncertainties corresponding to the statistical and systematic errors, respectively. This is very similar to the radius determined by a similar modeling technique for the radio shell at a comparable epoch, in contrast to previous claims that the remnant is 10%-15% smaller at X-rays than in the radio band. The HRC observations put a flux limit of 0.010 counts s–1 (99% confidence level, 0.08-10 keV range) on any compact source at the remnant center. Assuming the same foreground neutral hydrogen column density as toward the remnant, this allows us to rule out an unobscured neutron star with surface temperature T ∞ > 2.5 MK observed at infinity, a bright pulsar wind nebula or a magnetar.
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