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Session 53 - SNs, Planetaries and Circumstellar Disks.
Display session, Wednesday, June 10
Atlas Ballroom,

[53.06] Identifying Shock Structures in Supernova Remnants

B. Koralesky, L. Rudnick (U of MN), W. M. Goss, D. A. Frail, M. J. Claussen (NRAO/AOC), R. Petre, E. V. Gotthelf, J. W. Keohane (NASA/GSFC), M. C. H. Wright (U of C, Berkeley), J. R. Dickel (U of IL, U-C), A. J. Green (U. of Sydney)

Using observations and theory, we have attempted to identify and quantify shock structures in young and intermediate aged SNRs. This poster outlines several studies currently underway to study these shocks. By comparing measurements to simulations we have developed a method to classify a remnant's dynamical age according to the classical stages of free expansion through the Sedov-Taylor phase. We have found both Cas A and Kepler's SNRs to be in the intermediary phase between free expansion and Sedov-Taylor. We have utilized OH(1720) masers as a tool to find shock positions and to prove SNR-molecular cloud interactions. These masers have also allowed us to measure milliGauss magnetic fields in the shocks of two remnants. We have found spectral index variations in Cas A over a large range of frequency, which is consistent with many power-law distributions of electron energies. Preliminary expansion measurements of Cas A in the x-ray will also be presented, which will help define shock structures in this remnant.

SNR research at the University of Minnesota is supported by the NASA Graduate Research Program and the National Science Foundation under grant AST 96-19438.

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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: barron@astro.spa.umn.edu

Program listing for Wednesday