Publication Date:
2019-07-13
Description:
Asymmetry is required by most numerical simulations of stellar core collapse explosions, however the nature differs significantly among models. The spatial distribution of radioactive Ti-44, synthesized in an exploding star near the boundary between material falling back onto the collapsing core and that ejected into the surrounding medium, directly probes the explosion1asymmetries. Cassiopeia A is a young, nearby, core-collapse remnant from which Ti-44 emission has previously been detected, but not imaged. Asymmetries in the explosion have been indirectly inferred from a high ratio of observed Ti-44 emission to that estimated from (56)Ni9, from optical light echoes, and by jet-like features seen in the X-ray and optical ejecta. Here we report on the spatial maps and spectral properties of Ti-44 in Cassiopeia A. We find the Ti-44 to be distributed non-uniformly in the un-shocked interior of the remnant. This may explain the unexpected lack of correlation between the Ti-44 and iron X-ray emission, the latter only being visible in shock heated material. The observed spatial distribution rules out symmetric explosions even with a high level of convective mixing, as well as highly asymmetric bipolar explosions resulting from a fast rotating progenitor. Instead, these observations provide strong evidence for the development of low-mode convective instabilities in core-collapse supernovae.
Keywords:
Astrophysics
Type:
GSFC-E-DAA-TN21572
,
Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science (ISSN 0028-0836); 506; 7488; 339-342
Format:
application/pdf
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