SN 1987A - Origin of The Rings

Origin of The Rings

The two stars observed close to SNR1987A have bracelets of pearls and outside weaker radii. This figure, similar to images provided by multimode lasers, are called "daisy modes". A common explanation: The very hot stars are in a cloud of hydrogen which, heated, generate a Strömgren sphere made up of fully ionized hydrogen (protons+electrons). Strömgren showed that outside is a plasma shell containing atoms which radiate strongly the lines of hydrogen. A superradiant emission and a competition of the modes explain the generation of the pearl bracelets. Many authors showed that the rings of SNR1987A coincide with the rim of a structure having the shape of an hourglass. The hourglass may be a Strömgren shell distorted by the inhomogeneity of the gas or of the radiation of the star. The brightness of the rings and the disappearance of the star resulted from a multiphotonic, scattering of light emitted by the star, induced by the superradiant rays: it explains that the star disappeared when the rings light up.

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