[en] We report the likely detection of near-infrared 2.29 μm first overtone carbon monoxide (CO) emission from the young supernova (SN) remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A). The continuum-subtracted CO filter map reveals CO knots within the ejecta-rich reverse shock. We compare the first overtone CO emission with that found in the well studied supernova SN 1987A and find ∼30 times less CO in Cas A. The presence of CO suggests that molecule mixing is small in the SN ejecta and that astrochemical processes and molecule formation may continue at least ∼300 yr after the initial explosion.

[en] We report the detection of carbon monoxide (CO) emission from the young supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) at wavelengths corresponding to the fundamental vibrational mode at 4.65 μm. We obtained AKARI Infrared Camera spectra toward four positions which unambiguously reveal the broad characteristic CO ro-vibrational band profile. The observed positions include unshocked ejecta at the center, indicating that CO molecules form in the ejecta at an early phase. We extracted a dozen spectra across Cas A along the long 1' slits and compared these to simple CO emission models in local thermodynamic equilibrium to obtain first-order estimates of the excitation temperatures and CO masses involved. Our observations suggest that significant amounts of carbon may have been locked up in CO since the explosion 330 years ago. Surprisingly, CO has not been efficiently destroyed by reactions with ionized He or the energetic electrons created by the decay of the radiative nuclei. Our CO detection thus implies that less carbon is available to form carbonaceous dust in supernovae than is currently thought and that molecular gas could lock up a significant amount of heavy elements in supernova ejecta.

[en] We present Spitzer Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) spectral energy distribution (SED) and Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) observations of 14 Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) previously identified in the GLIMPSE survey. We find evidence for SNR/molecular cloud interaction through detection of [O I] emission, ionic lines, and emission from molecular hydrogen. Through blackbody fitting of the MIPS SEDs we find the large grains to be warm, 29-66 K. The dust emission is modeled using the DUSTEM code and a three-component dust model composed of populations of big grains (BGs), very small grains (VSGs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We find the dust to be moderately heated, typically by 30-100 times the interstellar radiation field. The source of the radiation is likely hydrogen recombination, where the excitation of hydrogen occurred in the shock front. The ratio of VSGs to BGs is found for most of the molecular interacting SNRs to be higher than that found in the plane of the Milky Way, typically by a factor of 2-3. We suggest that dust shattering is responsible for the relative overabundance of small grains, in agreement with the prediction from dust destruction models. However, two of the SNRs are best fitted with a very low abundance of carbon grains to silicate grains and with a very high radiation field. A likely reason for the low abundance of small carbon grains is sputtering. We find evidence for silicate emission at 20 μm in their SEDs, indicating that they are young SNRs based on the strong radiation field necessary to reproduce the observed SEDs.

[en] We present Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph and Infrared Array Camera observations of the young supernova remnant E0102 (SNR 1E0102-7219) in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The infrared spectra show strong lines of Ne and O, with the [Ne II] line at 12.8 μm having a large velocity dispersion of 2000-4500 km s^-1 indicative of fast-moving ejecta. Unlike the young Galactic SNR Cas A, E0102 lacks emission from Ar and Fe. Diagnostics of the observed [Ne III] line pairs imply that [Ne III] emitting ejecta have a low temperature of 650 K, while [Ne V] line pairs imply that the infrared [Ne V] emitting ejecta have a high density of ∼10⁴ cm^-3. We have calculated radiative shock models for various velocity ranges including the effects of photoionization. The shock model indicates that the [Ne V] lines come mainly from the cooling zone, which is hot and dense, whereas [Ne II] and [Ne III] come mainly from the photoionization zone, which has a low temperature of 400-1000 K. We estimate an infrared-emitting Ne ejecta mass of 0.04 M_sun from the infrared observations, and discuss implications for the progenitor mass. The spectra also have a dust continuum feature peaking at 18 μm that coincides spatially with the ejecta, providing evidence that dust formed in the expanding ejecta. The 18 μm peak dust feature is fitted by a mixture of MgSiO₃ and Si dust grains, while the rest of the continuum requires either carbon or Al₂O₃ grains. We measure the total dust mass formed within the ejecta of E0102 to be ∼0.014 M_sun. The dust mass in E0102 is thus a factor of a few smaller than that in Cas A. The composition of the dust is also different, showing relatively less silicate and likely no Fe-bearing dust, as is suggested by the absence of Fe-emitting ejecta.

[en] Temporal variations in metal-line strengths in H-atmosphere white dwarfs hold the potential to test the timescales of gravitational settling theory. These short timescales, in turn, require that DAZs are currently accreting. Such temporal variations would also indicate that accretion from a circumstellar dust disk can be episodic. We are compiling increasing evidence for time-variable Ca and Mg line-strength variations in the best studied DAZ, G29-38. Our evidence to date supports the gravitational settling timescales of Koester and Wilken (2006) and episodic accretion from G29-38's debris disk. Furthermore, we have detected evidence for time-variable accretion with a timescale = 24 hours, and typical variability of ∼4% during the 100 days of our autumn 2007 monitoring campaign.

[en] We report a discovery of shocked gas from the supernova remnant (SNR) G357.7+0.3. Our millimeter and submillimeter observations reveal broad molecular lines of CO(2-1), CO(3-2), CO(4-3), ¹³CO (2-1), and ¹³CO (3-2), HCO⁺, and HCN using the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope, the Arizona 12 m Telescope, APEX, and the MOPRA Telescope. The widths of the broad lines are 15–30 km s⁻¹, and the detection of such broad lines is unambiguous, dynamic evidence showing that the SNR G357.7+0.3 is interacting with molecular clouds. The broad lines appear in extended regions (>4.′5 × 5′). We also present the detection of shocked H₂ emission in the mid-infrared but lacking ionic lines using Spitzer /IRS observations to map a few-arcminute area. The H₂ excitation diagram shows a best fit with a two-temperature local thermal equilibrium model with the temperatures of ∼200 and 660 K. We observed [C ii] at 158 μ m and high- J CO(11-10) with the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies (GREAT) on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. The GREAT spectrum of [C ii], a 3 σ detection, shows a broad line profile with a width of 15.7 km⁻¹ that is similar to those of broad CO molecular lines. The line width of [C ii] implies that ionic lines can come from a low-velocity C-shock. Comparison of H₂ emission with shock models shows that a combination of two C-shock models is favored over a combination of C- and J-shocks or a single shock. We estimate the CO density, column density, and temperature using a RADEX model. The best-fit model with n (H₂) = 1.7 × 10⁴ cm⁻³, N(CO) = 5.6 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻², and T  = 75 K can reproduce the observed millimeter CO brightnesses.

[en] We present the detections of shocked molecular hydrogen (H₂) gas in near- and mid-infrared and broad CO in millimeter from the mixed-morphology supernova remnant (SNR) HB 3 (G132.7+1.3) using the Palomar Wide-field InfraRed Camera, the Spitzer GLIMPSE360 and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) surveys, and the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope. Our near-infrared narrow-band filter H₂ 2.12 μm images of HB 3 show that both Spitzer Infrared Array Camera and WISE 4.6 μm emission originates from shocked H₂ gas. The morphology of H₂ exhibits thin filamentary structures and a large scale of interaction sites between the HB 3 and nearby molecular clouds. Half of HB 3, the southern and eastern shell of the SNR, emits H₂ in a shape of a butterfly or W, indicating the interaction sites between the SNR and dense molecular clouds. Interestingly, the H₂ emitting region in the southeast is also co-spatial to the interacting area between HB 3 and the H ii regions of the W3 complex, where we identified star-forming activity. We further explore the interaction between HB 3 and dense molecular clouds with detections of broad CO(3-2) and CO(2-1) molecular lines from the southern and southeastern shell along the H₂ emitting region. The widths of the broad lines are 8–20 km s⁻¹; the detection of such broad lines is unambiguous, dynamic evidence of the interactions between the SNR and clouds. The CO broad lines are from two branches of the bright, southern H₂ shell. We apply the Paris–Durham shock model to the CO line profiles, which infer the shock velocities of 20–40 km s⁻¹, relatively low densities of 10^3–4 cm⁻³, and strong (>200 μG) magnetic fields.

[en] We present results from the mid-infrared spectral mapping of Stephan's Quintet using the Spitzer Space Telescope. A 1000 km s^-1 collision (t_col = 5 x 10⁶ yr) has produced a group-wide shock, and for the first time the large-scale distribution of warm molecular hydrogen emission is revealed, as well as its close association with known shock structures. In the main shock region alone we find 5.0 x 10⁸ M_sun of warm H₂ spread over ∼480 kpc² and additionally report the discovery of a second major shock-excited H₂ feature, likely a remnant of previous tidal interactions. This brings the total H₂ line luminosity of the group in excess of 10⁴² erg s^-1. In the main shock, the H₂ line luminosity exceeds, by a factor of 3, the X-ray luminosity from the hot shocked gas, confirming that the H₂-cooling pathway dominates over the X-ray. [Si II]34.82 μm emission, detected at a luminosity of 1/10th of that of the H₂, appears to trace the group-wide shock closely, and in addition, we detect weak [Fe II]25.99 μm emission from the most X-ray luminous part of the shock. Comparison with shock models reveals that this emission is consistent with regions of fast shocks (100 km s^-1 < V_s < 300 km s^-1) experiencing depletion of iron and silicon onto dust grains. Star formation in the shock (as traced via ionic lines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and dust emission) appears in the intruder galaxy, but most strikingly at either end of the radio shock. The shock ridge itself shows little star formation, consistent with a model in which the tremendous H₂ power is driven by turbulent energy transfer from motions in a post-shocked layer which suppresses star formation. The significance of the molecular hydrogen lines over other measured sources of cooling in fast galaxy-scale shocks may have crucial implications for the cooling of gas in the assembly of the first galaxies.

[en] The Spitzer Space Telescope routinely detects asteroids in astrophysical observations near the ecliptic plane. For the galactic or extragalactic astronomer, these solar system bodies can introduce appreciable uncertainty into the source identification process. We discuss an infrared color discrimination tool that may be used to distinguish between solar system objects and extrasolar sources. We employ four Spitzer Legacy data sets, the First Look Survey-Ecliptic Plane Component (FLS-EPC), SCOSMOS, SWIRE, and GOODS. We use the Standard Thermal Model to derive FLS-EPC main belt asteroid (MBA) diameters of 1-4 km for the numbered asteroids in our sample and note that several of our solar system sources may have fainter absolute magnitude values than previously thought. A number of the MBAs are detected at flux densities as low as a few tens of μJy at 3.6 μm. As the FLS-EPC provides the only 3.6-24.0 μm observations of individual asteroids to date, we are able to use this data set to carry out a detailed study of asteroid color in comparison to astrophysical sources observed by SCOSMOS, SWIRE, and GOODS. Both SCOSMOS and SWIRE have identified a significant number of asteroids in their data, and we investigate the effectiveness of using relative color to distinguish between asteroids and background objects. We find a notable difference in color in the IRAC 3.6-8.0 mm and MIPS 24 μm bands between the majority of MBAs, stars, galaxies, and active galactic nuclei, though this variation is less significant when comparing fluxes in individual bands. We find median colors for the FLS-EPC asteroids to be [F(5.8/3.6), F(8.0/4.5), F(24/8)] = (4.9 ± 1.8, 8.9 ± 7.4, 6.4 ± 2.3). Finally, we consider the utility of this technique for other mid-infrared observations that are sensitive to near-Earth objects, MBAs, and trans-Neptunian objects. We consider the potential of using color to differentiate between solar system and background sources for several space-based observatories, including Warm Spitzer, Herschel, and WISE.