NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2012B-0322
|
NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2012B-0322 |
|
PI: Armin Rest, Space Telescope Science Institute, arest@stsci.edu
Address: 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
CoI: Federica Bianco, LCOGT
CoI: Ryan Chornock, Harvard/CfA
CoI: Ryan Foley, Harvard/CfA
CoI: Mark E. Huber, JHU
CoI: Thomas Matheson, NOAO
CoI: Brittany McDonald, McMaster University
CoI: Knut Olsen, NOAO
CoI: Jose Luis Prieto, Princeton University
CoI: Brendan Sinnott, McMaster University
CoI: Nathan Smith, Steward Observatory
CoI: Doug Welch, McMaster University
Title: Light Echoes of Galactic Explosions and Eruptions
Abstract: We propose to search for light echoes (LEs) from the historical brightening of the Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) P Cygni using the KPNO 4m Mosaic 1.1 imager. We also propose to conclude our search - so far unsuccessful - for LEs from the the Crab supernova SN 1054 by surveying one remaining region of the LE ellipsoid behind the plane of the supernova remnant on the sky. In addition, we continue to monitor the LEs from the Cas A and Tycho supernovae in order to identify suitable LE candidates for 3D-spectroscopy and spectral time series. Recently, we discovered LEs of the mid-19th-century Great Eruption of \eta Carinae using CTIO 4m Mosaic images. Subsequent spectroscopic follow-up revealed that its outburst spectral type was most similar to those of G-type supergiants, rather than the reported LBV outburst spectral types (F-type or earlier) \citeRest12_eta. The application of the LE studies to LBVs promises to extend our ability to record outburst activity hundreds of years into the past - a timescale which is likely a significant fraction of the brief final phases of these probable core-collapse supernova precursors.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
|
NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2012B-0322 |
|