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Session 44 - Circumstellar Material.
Display session, Tuesday, January 16
North Banquet Hall, Convention Center
Long-slit spectroscopic mapping in the Crab Nebula provides evidence for large-scale distributions of nitrogen-rich and sulfur-rich gas. It is postulated that these components represent ejecta from the precursor star's helium mantle and a mixture involving products of oxygen burning, respectively. There is striking spatial asymmetry, with the nitrogen-rich gas located primarily in the N, NW part of the remnant and the sulfur-rich mixture found mainly S of the pulsar. This implies directional ejection of the more highly processed material. The nitrogen-rich gas is also characterized by higher velocities, as would be expected from an accelerating shock following core bounce.
