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Grain Destruction in a Supernova Remnant Shock WaveDust grains are sputtered away in the hot gas behind shock fronts in supernova remnants, gradually enriching the gas phase with refractory elements. We have measured emission in C IV (lambda)1550 from C atoms sputtered from dust in the gas behind a non-radiative shock wave in the northern Cygnus Loop. Overall, the intensity observed behind the shock agrees approximately with predictions from model calculations that match the Spitzer 24 micron and the X-ray intensity profiles. Thus these observations confirm the overall picture of dust destruction in SNR shocks and the sputtering rates used in models. However, there is a discrepancy in that the CIV intensity 10'' behind the shock is too high compared to the intensities at the shock and 25'' behind it. Variations in the density, hydrogen neutral fraction and the dust properties over parsec scales in the pre- shock medium limit our ability to test dust destruction models in detail.
Document ID
20140013351
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Raymond, John C.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Ghavamian, Parviz
(Towson Univ. Towson, MD, United States)
Williams, Brian J.
(Oak Ridge Associated Universities Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Blair, William P.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Borkowski, Kazimierz J.
(North Carolina State Univ. Raleigh, NC, United States)
Gaetz, Terrance J.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Sankrit, Ravi
(Universities Space Research Association Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
November 5, 2014
Publication Date
January 1, 2014
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN11717
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNH06CC03B
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
dust
Cygnus Loop
supernova remnants
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