Expanding Shock Front Research Articles

The Outflow of The Protostar in B335. I.

The isolated globule B335 contains a single, low-luminosity Class 0 protostar associated with a bipolar nebula and outflow system seen nearly perpendicular to its axis. We observed the innermost regions of this outflow as part of JWST/NIRCam Guaranteed Time Observations program 1187, primarily intended for wide-field slitless spectroscopy of background stars behind the globule. We find a system of expanding shock fronts with kinematic ages of only a few decades emerging symmetrically from the position of the embedded protostar, which is not directly detected at NIRCam wavelengths. The innermost and youngest of the shock fronts studied here shows strong emission from CO. The next older shock front shows less CO and the third shock front shows only H2 emission in our data. This third and most distant of these inner shock fronts shows substantial evolution of its shape since it was last observed with high spatial resolution in 1996 with Keck/NIRC. This may be evidence of a faster internal shock catching up with a slower one and of the two shocks merging.

A refined search for high-velocity gas in the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant

ABSTRACT We present the results of a sensitive search for high-velocity gas in interstellar absorption lines associated with the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant (SNR). We examine high-resolution high signal-to-noise ratio optical spectra of six stars in the Cygnus Loop region with distances greater than ∼700 pc. All stars show low-velocity Na i and Ca ii absorption. However, only one star, HD 198301, exhibits high-velocity Ca ii absorption components, at velocities of +62, +82, and +96 km s−1. The distance to this star of ∼870 pc helps to constrain the distance to the receding edge of the Cygnus Loop’s expanding shock front. One of our targets, HD 335334, was previously thought to exhibit high positive and high negative velocity interstellar Na i and Ca ii absorption. This was one factor leading Fesen et al. to derive a distance to the Cygnus Loop of 725 ± 15 pc. However, we find that HD 335334 is in fact a double-line spectroscopic binary and shows no evidence of high-velocity interstellar absorption. As such, the distance to HD 335334 cannot be used to constrain the distance to the Cygnus Loop. Our detection of Ca ii absorption approaching 100 km s−1 toward HD 198301 is the first conclusive detection of high-velocity absorption from a low-ionization species associated with the Cygnus Loop SNR. A large jump in the Na i column density toward BD+31 4218, a star located beyond the northwestern boundary of the Cygnus Loop, helps to constrain the distance to a large molecular cloud complex with which the Cygnus Loop is evidently interacting.

The hydroxyl satellite-line ‘flip’ as a tracer of expanding H ii regions

ABSTRACT Observations of the four 2Π3/2, J = 3/2 ground state transitions of the hydroxyl radical (OH) have emerged as an informative tracer of molecular gas in the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM). We discuss an OH spectral feature known as the ‘flip’, in which the satellite lines at 1612 and 1720 MHz flip – one from emission to absorption and the other the reverse – across a closely blended double feature. We highlight 30 examples of the flip from the literature, 27 of which exhibit the same orientation with respect to velocity: the 1720-MHz line is seen in emission at more negative velocities. These same examples are also observed towards bright background continuum, many (perhaps all) show stimulated emission, and 23 of these are coincident in on-sky position and velocity with H ii radio recombination lines. To explain these remarkable correlations, we propose that the 1720-MHz stimulated emission originates in heated and compressed post-shock gas expanding away from a central H ii region, which collides with cooler and more diffuse gas hosting the 1612-MHz stimulated emission. The foreground gas dominates the spectrum due to the bright central continuum; hence, the expanding post-shock gas is blue-shifted relative to the stationary pre-shock gas. We employ non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) excitation modelling to examine this scenario and find that indeed FIR emission from warm dust adjacent to the H ii region radiatively pumps the 1612-MHz line in the diffuse, cool gas ahead of the expanding shock front, while collisional pumping in the warm, dense shocked gas inverts the 1720-MHz line.

A distance estimate to the Cygnus Loop based on the distances to two stars located within the remnant

Underlying nearly every quantitative discussion of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant is uncertainty about its distance. Here we present optical images and spectra of nebulosities around two stars whose mass-loss material appears to have interacted with the remnant's expanding shock front and thus can be used to estimate the Cygnus Loop's distance. Narrow passband images reveal a small emission-line nebula surrounding an M4 red giant near the remnant's eastern nebula NGC 6992. Optical spectra of the nebula show it to be shock-heated with significantly higher electron densities than seen in the remnant's filaments. This along with a bow-shaped morphology suggests it is likely red giant mass-loss material shocked and accelerated by passage of the Cygnus Loop's blast wave. We also identify a B7 V star located along the remnant's northwestern limb which also appears to have interacted with the remnant's shock wave. It lies within a small arc of nebulosity in an unusually complex region of highly curved and distorted filaments along the remnant's northern shock front suggestive of a localized disturbance of the shock front due to the B star's stellar winds. Based on the assumption that these two stars lie inside the remnant, combined with an estimated distance to a molecular cloud situated along the remnant's western limb, we propose a distance to the Cygnus Loop of 1.0 +/- 0.2 kpc. Although larger than several recent estimates of 500 - 800 pc, a distance ~1 kpc helps resolve difficulties with the remnant's postshock cosmic ray and gas pressure ratio and estimated supernova explosion energy.

VLBI of supernovae and gamma-ray bursts

Supernovae and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are among the brightest events in the universe. Excluding Type Ia supernovae and short GRBs, they are the result of the core collapse of a massive star with material being ejectedwith speeds of several 1000 km/s to nearly the speed of light, and with a neutron star or a black hole left over as the compact remnant of the explosion. Synchrotron radiation in the radio is generated in a shell when the ejecta interact with the surrounding medium and possibly also in the central region near the compact remnant itself. VLBI has allowed resolving some of these sources and monitoring their expansion in detail, thereby revealing characteristics of the dying star, the explosion, the expanding shock front, and the expected compact remnant. We report on updates of some of the most interesting results that have been obtained with VLBI so far. Movies of supernovae are available from our website. They show the evolution from shortly after the explosion to decades thereafter, in one case revealing an emerging compact central source, which may be associated with shock interaction near the explosion center or with the stellar corpse itself, a neutron star or a black hole.

Numerical simulations of cellular detonation diffraction in a stable gaseous mixture

In this paper, the diffraction phenomenon of gaseous cellular detonations emerging from a confined tube into a sudden open space is simulated using the reactive Euler equations with a two-step Arrhenius chemistry model. Both two-dimensional and axisymmetric configurations are used for modeling cylindrical and spherical expansions, respectively. The chemical parameters are chosen for a stable gaseous explosive mixture in which the cellular detonation structure is highly regular. Adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) is used to resolve the detonation wave structure and its evolution during the transmission. The numerical results show that the critical channel width and critical diameter over the detonation cell size are about 13±1 and 25±1, respectively. These numerical findings are comparable with the experimental observation and confirm again that the critical channel width and critical diameter differ essentially by a factor close to 2, equal to the geometrical scaling based on front curvature theory. Unlike unstable mixtures where instabilities manifested in the detonation front structure play a significant role during the transmission, the present numerical results and the observed geometrical scaling provide again evidence that the failure of detonation diffraction in stable mixtures with a regular detonation cellular pattern is dominantly caused by the global curvature due to the wave divergence resulting in the global decoupling of the reaction zone with the expanding shock front.

Stability of stagnation via an expanding accretion shock wave

Stagnation of a cold plasma streaming to the center or axis of symmetry via an expanding accretion shock wave is ubiquitous in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and high-energy-density plasma physics, the examples ranging from plasma flows in x-ray-generating Z pinches [Maron et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 035001 (2013)] to the experiments in support of the recently suggested concept of impact ignition in ICF [Azechi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 235002 (2009); Murakami et al., Nucl. Fusion 54, 054007 (2014)]. Some experimental evidence indicates that stagnation via an expanding shock wave is stable, but its stability has never been studied theoretically. We present such analysis for the stagnation that does not involve a rarefaction wave behind the expanding shock front and is described by the classic ideal-gas Noh solution in spherical and cylindrical geometry. In either case, the stagnated flow has been demonstrated to be stable, initial perturbations exhibiting a power-law, oscillatory or monotonic, decay with time for all the eigenmodes. This conclusion has been supported by our simulations done both on a Cartesian grid and on a curvilinear grid in spherical coordinates. Dispersion equation determining the eigenvalues of the problem and explicit formulas for the eigenfunction profiles corresponding to these eigenvalues are presented, making it possible to use the theory for hydrocode verification in two and three dimensions.

Ambient magnetic field amplification in shock fronts of relativistic jets: an application to GRB afterglows

Strong downstream magnetic fields of order of $\sim 1$G, with large correlation lengths, are believed to cause the large synchrotron emission at the afterglow phase of gamma ray bursts (GRBs). Despite of the recent theoretical efforts, models have failed to fully explain the amplification of the magnetic field, particularly in a matter dominated scenario. We revisit the problem by considering the synchrotron emission to occur at the expanding shock front of a weakly magnetized relativistic jet over a magnetized surrounding medium. Analytical estimates and a number of high resolution 2D relativistic magneto-hydrodynamical (RMHD) simulations are provided. Jet opening angles of $\theta = 0^{\circ} - 20^{\circ}$, and ambient to jet density ratios of $10^{-4} - 10^2$ were considered. We found that most of the amplification is due to compression of the ambient magnetic field at the contact discontinuity between the reverse and forward shocks at the jet head, with substantial pile-up of the magnetic field lines as the jet propagates sweeping the ambient field lines. The pile-up is maximum for $\theta \rightarrow 0$, decreasing with $\theta$, but larger than in the spherical blast problem. Values obtained for certain models are able to explain the observed intensities. The maximum correlation lengths found for such strong fields is of $l_{\rm corr} \leq 10^{14}$ cm, $2 - 6$ orders of magnitude larger than the found in previous works.

THE LAUNCH REGION OF THE SVS 13 OUTFLOW AND JET

We present the results of Keck Telescope laser adaptive optics integral field spectroscopy with OSIRIS of the innermost regions of the NGC 1333 SVS 13 outflow that forms the system of Herbig-Haro objects 7-11. We find a bright 0.2 arc sec long microjet traced by the emission of shock-excited [FeII]. Beyond the extent of this jet, we find a series of bubbles and fragments of bubbles that are traced in the lower excitation H_2 1-0 S(1) line. While the most recent outflow activity is directed almost precisely (PA ~145 deg) to the south-east of SVS 13, there is clear indication that prior bubble ejections were pointed in different directions. Within these variations, a clear connection of the newly observed bubble ejection events to the well-known, poorly collimated HH 7-11 system of Herbig-Haro objects is established. Astrometry of the youngest of the expanding shock fronts at 3 epochs covering a time span of over two years gives kinematic ages for two of these. The kinematic age of the youngest bubble is slightly older than the historically observed last photometric outburst of SVS 13 in 1990, consistent with that event launching the bubble and some deceleration of its expansion. A re-evaluation of historic infrared photometry and new data show that SVS 13 has not yet returned to its brightness before that outburst and thus shows a behavior similar to FUor outbursts, albeit with a smaller amplitude. We postulate that the creation of a series of bubbles and the changes in outflow direction are indicative of a precessing disk and accretion events triggered by a repetitive phenomenon possibly linked to the orbit of a close binary companion. We have tried, but failed to detect, the kinematic signature of rotation of the microjet in the [FeII] emission line at 1.644 micrometers.

Building a Hydrodynamics Code with Kinetic Theory

We report on the development of a test-particle based kinetic Monte Carlo code for large systems and its application to simulate matter in the continuum regime. Our code combines advantages of the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo and the Point-of-Closest-Approach methods to solve the collision integral of the Boltzmann equation. With that, we achieve a high spatial accuracy in simulations while maintaining computational feasibility when applying a large number of test-particles. The hybrid setup of our approach allows us to study systems which move in and out of the hydrodynamic regime, with low and high particle densities. To demonstrate our code's ability to reproduce hydrodynamic behavior we perform shock wave simulations and focus here on the Sedov blast wave test. The blast wave problem describes the evolution of a spherical expanding shock front and is an important verification problem for codes which are applied in astrophysical simulation, especially for approaches which aim to study core-collapse supernovae.

MOLECULAR RINGS AROUND INTERSTELLAR BUBBLES AND THE THICKNESS OF STAR-FORMING CLOUDS

The winds and radiation from massive stars clear out large cavities in the interstellar medium. These bubbles, as they have been called, impact their surrounding molecular clouds and may influence the formation of stars therein. Here we present JCMT observations of the J=3-2 line of CO in 43 bubbles identified with Spitzer Space Telescope observations. These spectroscopic data reveal the three-dimensional structure of the bubbles. In particular, we show that the cold gas lies in a ring, not a sphere, around the bubbles indicating that the parent molecular clouds are flattened with a typical thickness of a few parsecs. We also mapped 7 bubbles in the J=4-3 line of HCO+ and find that the column densities inferred from the CO and HCO+ line intensities are below that necessary for "collect and collapse" models of induced star formation. We hypothesize that the flattened molecular clouds are not greatly compressed by expanding shock fronts, which may hinder the formation of new stars.

Time-resolved visualization of shock–vortex systems emitted from an open shock tube

When a shock wave leaves an open-ended shock tube, it generates a vortex ring that subsequently detaches from the shock tube and follows the expanding shock front. This classical problem of shock–vortex interaction has been visualized in unprecedented detail and temporal resolution by means of time-resolved shadow, schlieren and shearing interferometry sequences obtained with a newly developed ultrahigh-speed color video camera. This device is capable of taking 144 frames with full-frame resolution of 720 × 410 pixels at rates of up to one million frames per second. Apart from shadowgraphy, the visualization techniques used in this study were direction- and magnitude-indicating color schlieren and polychrome shearing interferometry. The process was observed both with the standard normal view of the flow field and with an oblique view, which facilitated the identification of some three-dimensional flow features. The obtained results clearly show the development of individual flow elements, including some that so far have eluded a proper description. One example is the secondary, counter-rotating vortex ring, which at a later time wraps around the main vortex ring before disintegrating upon merging with the shear layer that surrounds the gas exiting from the tube.

SN 1993J VLBI. IV. A Geometric Distance to M81 with the Expanding Shock Front Method

We compare the angular expansion velocities, determined with VLBI, with the linear expansion velocities measured from optical spectra for supernova 1993J in the galaxy M81, over the period from 7 days to ~9 yr after shock breakout, and estimate the distance to SN 1993J using the expanding shock front method (ESM). We find that the best distance estimate is obtained by fitting the angular velocity of a point halfway between the contact surface and outer shock front to the maximum observed hydrogen gas velocity. We obtain a direct, geometric, distance estimate for M81 of D = 3.96 ± 0.05 ± 0.29 Mpc with statistical and systematic error contributions, respectively, which combine to a total standard error of ±0.29 Mpc. The upper limit of 4.25 Mpc corresponds to the hydrogen gas with the highest observed velocity just reaching out to the contact surface a few days after shock breakout. The lower limit of 3.67 Mpc corresponds to this gas reaching as far out as the forward shock for the whole observing period, which would mean that Rayleigh-Taylor fingers have grown to the forward shock already a few days after shock breakout. Our distance estimate is 9% ± 13% larger than that of 3.63 ± 0.34 Mpc from the HST Key Project. The radio shell and the Hα absorbing and emitting gas are similarly decelerated on average, but the latter slightly less so than the former several years after shock breakout. This may indicate developing Rayleigh-Taylor fingers, extending progressively further into the shocked circumstellar medium.

SN 1979C VLBI: 22 Years of Almost Free Expansion

VLBI measurements of the size of SN 1979C in M100 (NGC 4321) in the Virgo Cluster, from t = 3.7 yr after the explosion, show an expansion ∝tm, which is, with m = 0.95 ± 0.03, almost consistent with being free for 22 years. The last size measurement, at t = 22 yr, may indicate for the first time a change of the expansion of the supernova and suggests, as an alternative, free expansion ∝tm with m = 1.00 ± 0.05 up to tb ~ 17 yr followed by marginally significant deceleration with m = 0.74 ± 0.17. The possible deceleration could be weaker within the errors for tb 17 yr. With the assumption for the density profile of the circumstellar medium (CSM) of ρCSM ∝ r-s, we derive a model-dependent value of s = 1.95 up to a distance from the progenitor, r = rb, that corresponds to tb ~ 17 yr, which changes to s 1.5 for r > rb. For a kinetic energy of the shocked ejecta and CSM shells of Ekin = 1051 ergs, our results require a mass loss to wind velocity ratio for the progenitor of w/w ~ 1 × 10-5 M☉ yr-1 per w = 10 km s-1, an order of magnitude smaller than estimated from radio light-curve fitting. The swept-up mass at t = 22 yr is then Msw = 0.3 M☉ and the inferred mass of the shocked ejecta Mshock-ej = 2 M☉. Our last observations give an image of a barely resolved source with a first hint on the structure of the supernova, consistent with being circular within 9% and possibly center filled. The expanding shock front method (ESM) of combining the transverse radio expansion velocities with the radial optical velocities gives direct distance estimates to M100, with standard errors of D = 16.5 ± 2.5 to 19.8 ± 3.0 Mpc, depending on whether the supernova has a bright center or is a shell without such a center. These estimates are comparable with those from Cepheid observations (e.g., 16.1 and 15.2 Mpc).

The Warm Interstellar Medium around the Cygnus Loop

Observations of the oxygen lines [O II] 3729 A and [O III] 5007 A in the medium immediately beyond the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant were carried out with the scanning Fabry-Perot spectrophotometer Experience Spectroscopique d'Observation des Plasmas (ESOP). Both lines were detected in three different directions (east, northeast, and southwest), and up to a distance of 15 pc from the shock front. The ionized medium is in the immediate vicinity of the remnant, as evinced by the smooth brightening of both lines as the adiabatic shock transition (defined by the X-ray perimeter) is crossed. These lines are usually brighter around the Cygnus Loop than in the general background in directions where the Galactic latitude is ≥5°. There is also marginal (but significant) evidence that the degree of ionization is somewhat larger around the Cygnus Loop. We conclude that the energy necessary to ionize this large bubble of gas could have been supplied by an O8 or O9 type progenitor, or by the particles heated by the expanding shock front. The second possibility, although highly attractive, would have to be assessed by extensive modeling.

Super-Resolution of the Radio Remnant of SN 1987A

AbstractThe radio remnant of SN 1987A is now of sufficient flux density that super-resolution is possible at 9 GHz. We present a sequence of images from 1992 to 1996 with a resolution of ≈ 0″.5xb, showing the continuing interaction between the expanding shock front and the surrounding axisymmetric circumstellar material.

Elliptically polarized wave induced local growth of instability at an obliquely developed inhomogeneity in a plasma

A strong elliptically polarized wave, incident obliquely on a plasma, consisting of singly charged ions and free electrons, when obstructed by an inhomogeneous growth at a point P (say) of its path of propagation, becomes unstable. When the characteristic length of variation of the inhomogeneity is of the order of micrometers, the wave energy is deposited completely in the vicinity of P. Plasma characteristics such as the wave-affected magnetic moment field, the wave growth factor, and the space charge separation wave of compression and rarefaction are also determined. The behavior of the resulting expanding shock front and the other effects cannot be considered by the field equations used here. Also the spin wave features (second-order effects) that develop and the related dispersion relations are considered for an elliptically polarized wave and a longitudinal wave. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

Shock-excited OH maser emission outlining the galactic center supernova remnant G359.1-0.05.

A search using the Very Large Array was performed for 1720-megahertz OH maser line emission from a number of nonthermal radio continuum sources in the galactic center region. The 1720-megahertz transition has recently been noted for its potential as a tracer of shock activity. The most striking result was the detection of extended 1720-megahertz OH maser emission, as well as a number of compact OH maser features, along the interface between a large-scale continuum shell (G359.1-0.5) and its surrounding ring of high-velocity molecular gas. The morphological correlation among the neutral gas, the nonthermal shell, and the maser features provides strong support for the hypothesis that the 1720-megahertz maser line of OH arises from gas shocked by the impact of the expanding supernova remnant into the molecular material. However, the radial velocities of the molecular cloud surrounding G359.1-0.5 are more negative than that of the OH maser spots by more than 50 kilometers per second. Here it is suggested that only the low-radial-velocity component of the carbon monoxide material at the limb of the remnant satisfies the physical conditions required for collisional pumping of the OH 1720-megahertz line behind the expanding shock front.

The Role of Flare Stars in Cosmic-ray Origin

AbstractSupernovae and their expanding shock fronts are evidently the main agents of cosmic-ray acceleration. The thermal gas in the interstellar medium has been regarded as the reservoir of seed particles destined to become cosmic-ray nuclei. This assumption is, however, at variance with the source composition of galactic cosmic iays. In an alternative hypothesis, the seed particles are injected into the interstellar material as suprathermal seed ions, and it has been surmised that flare stars provide the initial boost. We find that the dMe and dKe stars are probably the principal sources of cosmic-ray seed particles. Most stars in the Galaxy are red dwarfs and many of these flares much more powerfully and frequently than solar flares. Augmenting the optical data, recent X-ray and far-ultraviolet observations now permit a better estimate of the energy budget. Altogether, dMe and dKe stars seem to be the most promising class of cosmic-ray injectors.

VLA observations of the supernova remnant Puppus A at 327 and 1515 MHz

Very Large Array radio images of Puppis A at 327 and 1515 MHz are presented. The observations were performed with the VLA in the C/D and B/C configurations, respectively. The angular resolution is about 77 arcsec x 43 arcsec. The observed radio shell shows signs of interaction between the expanding shock front and the inhomogeneous surrounding medium. An excellent correlation is found between radio and X-ray emission, mainly toward the NE border of the remnant. There is little correspondence between the optical and radio images, suggesting a different origin for the emission. A region of steeper radio spectral index is associated with the highly decelerated eastern periphery.