Re: supernova rings

Paul Arveson (arveson@oasys.dt.navy.mil)
Mon, 4 May 1998 15:43:33 -0400

At 6:42 AM -0400 4/30/98, Glenn R. Morton wrote:
>At 11:19 PM 4/29/98 -0600, Bill Payne wrote:
>>Thanks for the info Paul. Now, please help me understand this. SN1987A
>>exploded some time in the past. Immediately, light from the explosion
>>radiated out in all directions. Some of the light travelled in a
>>straight line to the earth and arrived here in 1987. Some of the light
>>travelled perpendicular to the SN1987A-earth path, hit the rings, and
>>then bounced off the rings and travelled to the earth, arriving in
>>February, 1988. If the echo was one light year behind the initial light
>>that travelled in a direct straight line from the supernova to the
>>earth, then it would seem to me (and I think Glenn as well) that the
>>ring radius is one light year. If the ring radius were thousands of
>>light years, then the echo should be thousands of light years after the
>>1987 explosion.
>
>>What am I missing?
>
>two things. The light from the light echo left the star several hundred or
>thousands of years PRIOR to the supernova explosion. This light is merely
>reflection. The light from the inner ring is not actually quite the same as
>a light echo. it is radiation from a heated body of gas. The gas in the
>inner ring was heated by x-rays from the supernova. Now, it glows on its
>own, which is why it is so much brighter than the light echo.
>glenn
>
>Adam, Apes and Anthropology
>Foundation, Fall and Flood
>& lots of creation/evolution information
>http://www.isource.net/~grmorton/dmd.htm

Thanks, Glenn. That will do, I guess. I think we should refer further
discussion of this subject to the astronomers involved. The documents I
found on the Hubble site were not detailed enough to clarify the situation.
If Bill
wants to pursue this, I will be happy to email the investigators.

Paul Arveson, Code 724, Research Physicist, Signatures Directorate
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division
9500 MacArthur Blvd., West Bethesda, MD 20817-5700
arveson@oasys.dt.navy.mil bridges@his.com
(301) 227-3831 (301) 227-4511 (FAX)