Supernova Educator Guide Dr. Kevin McLin SSU E/PO Group 1 Monday, July 28, 2008

Find the supernova Image: R. Jay GeBany

Supernova light curves From Reiss et al Brightnes s 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 XRTUVOT Swift Images of NGC January 7:00 UT

Rare Look at a Supernova Swift Images of NGC 2770 XRTUVOT 2008 January 9:00 UT

X-ray Light curve of SN2008D This 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 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 Star explodes

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 9 Three Supernova Activities Fishing for Supernovae Crawl of the Crab Magnetic Poles and Pulsars Crawl of the Crab

We will use two pictures of the Crab Nebula 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 Age 1. 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!