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R.C. Iping (Univ. of Guam), G. Sonneborn, C.S.J. Pun (NASA/GSFC)
The inner circumstellar ring around SN 1987A was observed on 14 Nov 1998 with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope. Medium resolution spectra (gratings G430M and G750M, resolution 50-100km/s) of several emission lines were obtained with a long, narrow (0.2 arcsec) slit approximately aligned with the inner ring's major axis. Thus the long slit sampled segments of the ring at the east and west ansae. The lines observed include [N II] 5755, 6548, 6583, [O III] 4363, 4959, 5007, [S II] 6716, 6731, [O I] 6300, 6364, H-alpha and H-beta.
We present an analysis of the emission surface brightnesses. Emission line ratios are evaluated to compare the physical conditions on opposite sides of the ring. These two locations, being on the major axis, are of the same age (light travel time) as the debris from the supernova explosion.
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