The Distribution of Elements in The Supernova Remnant NGC

1952 (The Crab Nebula) Using Spectroscopic Observations

Shawna McCracken
The Academy for Math, Engineering, and Science
Research Report
2014-2015

Background Information
There are multiple ways a star can die. Most commonly is when the star no
longer has enough energy to fuse hydrogen into helium in its core. The stars core will
than begin to collapse onto itself while the hydrogen that remains in its outer layers
begins to fuse. The cores increase in temperature pushes the outer layers further away
and thereby causes them to cool, leading the star to become a red giant. The now red
giant will continue to eject its outer layers until only the extremely hot core remains.
This core is called a white dwarf. Eventually this white dwarf will die out and most likely
become a cool black dwarf. (Netting, 2014)
When the star is originally very massive this is not the case. The less frequent,
yet more important to this project, way that a star can die is to go nova or supernova. In
these massive stars when the core is unable to fuse hydrogen into helium it may
become hot enough to fuse helium and other elements up to iron. The core at this point
is so hot that it is extremely unstable and the star will begin to shoot off its outer layers.
What happens afterward depends on how massive the core of the star is.
The more likely of the two options is for the star to go nova wherein its outer
layer explode off of the core. Again if massive enough this is not the case. The less
frequent, yet more important to this project, of the two options is a supernova. When
there is a supernova the stars core is so massive that it collapses under its own gravity
and then bounces back out in a large violent explosion of about 10 28 megatons leaving
either a black hole or a neutron star where the star previously was (Supernovae, 2011).

During a nova or supernova is the only time that a star will get hot enough to produce
heavier elements than iron.
There are two main types of supernova, Type Ia and Type II. Type Ia supernovae
occur when two white dwarfs are close enough together that when they are getting rid of
their outer layers one builds up the outer layers of the other becoming massive and hot
enough for a supernova to occur. These Types of supernovae usually show relatively
strong Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe spectroscopic lines and relatively weak O, Ne, and Mg
lines. Type II supernovae are what is discussed on the previous page where an
extremely massive stars core collapses creating a huge wave of energy. These Types
of supernovae usually show the complete opposite elements in spectroscopic lines with
relatively strong O, Ne, and Mg lines and relatively weak Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe lines
(Hwang, 2004).
Similar projects to this one have been done on both supernova remnants and
other types of nebulae. This form of study is most commonly known as nebula mapping,
where in one way or another a map is made of some characteristic of the nebula to
provide valuable data about it. Many of these maps are made using data collected
under conditions that are much better than in the Salt Lake Valley and are done using
stronger resources that are capable of collecting more accurate data than what is used
in this project.
One of these projects is the spectral mapping of the Helix nebula using the
Herschel telescope (Etxaluze et al., 2014). This study made atomic and molecular
spectral maps of the nebula using five pointing observations from a SPIRE Fourier
Transform Spectrometers (FTS). The purpose as explained was to study the spatial

distribution of the atomic and the molecular gas, and the structure of the
photodissociation region along the western rims of the submillimeter range (Etxaluze et
al., 2014). Basically saying that the goal was to map and study the distribution of gases
within the nebula as well as its structure. This was done by modeling the CO rotational
lines to analyze the molecular gas. One incredible thing about this study is that it was
the first time that extended OH+ emission was detected in a planetary nebula. As
reported these spectral-maps suggest that CO arises from dense and shielded clumps
in the western rims of the Helix nebula, whereas OH+ and Cr lines trace the diffuse gas
(Etxaluze et al., 2014). So different elements tend to be more prominent in different
areas from which they appear to originate throughout the nebula.
Another example of this type of study was a spectroscopic mapping of the
planetary nebula NGC 6302 (the Bug Nebula) (Rauber et al., 2013). One difference
between this and other studies is the fact that most spectroscopic studies are based on
data collected from specific parts of the nebulae. This can only provide a limited amount
of information because of the complexity of these structures. This particular study
investigated the spatial variation of its physical and chemical properties by using
spatially resolved long-slit spectroscopic data from eleven equally spaced parallel
direction over the nebula.This data was used to map the emission line fluxes, line ratios,
electron temperature, electron density, and ionic abundances of the nebula. According
to the report of this study the electron density maps show a peaked distribution, with
the densest area at the circumstellar region (Rauber et al., 2013). The circumstellar
region being the region in the center around the star from which the nebula originates.
These electron density maps also suggest that there may be an inner region that

extends from the center of the nebula through its east lobe. This study demonstrates the
potential of spatially resolved abundance studies for establishing the lower limits of total
abundances (Rauber et al., 2013).
A study similar to this one is exemplified with the study titled The Elemental
Composition and the Spatial distributions of Elements in the Crab Nebula (Satterfield,
2010). This study compared emission line measurements with model simulations, as
well as presented new observations and photoionization calculations for investigating
gaseous regions. The study investigated the overall spatial distribution of elements
using selected emission lines along with photoionization calculations. New methods of
calibrating direct images were introduced to help produce abundance maps of helium,
nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. These maps were produced by comparing flux distributions
and several numerical model simulations. The data shows evidence of CarbonNitrogen-Oxygen processing, helium-burning, and oxygen-burning in the gas of the
remnant. This data also provided a lot of data about the precursor star (Satterfield,
2010).
Supernova remnants can show how the initial explosion occurred years after the
supernova itself. This provides information about important events that lead to the
current universe. By studying the information that is accessible it is possible to learn a
significant amount of information about the universe past, present, and future. Also by
using the current methods for nebula mapping with less accurate telescopes data can
potentially be used to develop a more accurate way of nebula mapping with less
accurate resources.

Question and Hypothesis

What is the elemental composition and distribution of the Crab Nebula (NGC 1952)?
If other research shows an increased amount of elements such as oxygen, helium, and
nitrogen showing evidence of events such as Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen processing and
helium-burning, and a map is made of the distribution of the remnant using the
resources available in this project, then the map made throughout the duration of this
project will show similar data to those previously made with slightly less detail and
accuracy than others which were created using stronger telescopes in areas with less
light pollution.

Long-Term Goal
There is a way to create more accurate nebula maps using less accurate and easier to
access resources. If the current process of nebula mapping is understood and there is a
need to improve the process with an effort made to do such then a method could be
created to make maps of equal or greater quality than those made with greater
resources.

Materials

Meade 14" lx200 Telescope

SBIG DSS-7 Deep Space Spectrograph
SBIG ST-8XE CCD Camera
Computer
Notebook
Pen
Flash Drive

Methods
Before data collection began a target remnant or nebula was decided based on
position in the sky during available observation times as well as size and visibility with
available resources. Once a target was picked it was separated into different parts,
number of parts depending on the size of the object. These parts were observed
individually using Spectroscopy on clear nights so that the spectral lines of each section
were recorded. From these lines a map is made of what elements spectral lines appear
strongest in what parts of the object. This is then compared to data collected from other
sources, such as Hubble, to determine the accuracy of the data collected throughout the
duration of this project. All data collection was done at the University of Utahs South
Physics Observatory and the resources available there.

Data

Discussion
The first image is a reference image. Images such as this show what part of the
nebula the spectra was taken of in the rectangular box. This particular reference
displays the starting position of recording spectra. This was followed by slowly taking
spectra across the nebula to the right and then beginning a new motion from left to right
just above this starting position. Images like this can be helpful in many ways, one of
which is to be able to tell if and how the spectra is being taken across the nebula.
This second image is the spectra that was recorded for the location shown in
image 1. The spectra shows specific spectral lines that are brighter than other areas.
These lines relate to specific elements in the nebula. Some however do relate to
elements that are in the atmosphere, therefore it is required to distinguish what spectral
lines relate to which area. Spectra like this were done using 3 minute exposures from
the spectrograph.

Conclusion
Analysis of this data is still in progress. Due to the specific conditions required to
collect spectra of this remnant in the Salt Lake Valley some time war required to collect
data, therefore analysis of this data ended up being slightly behind schedule and is not
yet complete. Being that analysis has yet to be completed a conclusion cannot be made
at this time.

Future Research
With some continued analysis a map detailing the elemental distribution of this
remnant can be made shortly. This information will than be compared to reliable know
information to check for accuracy. This experiment will not only provided information
regarding the crab nebula, but will also provided a great deal of information regarding
the process of nebula mapping. Information regarding the current process of nebula
mapping can at some point potentially be used to improve this process in the future so
that it may produce more accurate data even without optimum resources and
conditions.

References
Etxaluze, M., Cernicharo, J., Goicoechea, J., Van Hoof, P., Swinyard, B., Barlow, M., ...
Ueta, T. (2014, March 28). Herschel spectral mapping of the Helix nebula (NGC
7293). Retrieved October 3, 2014.
Hwang, U. (2004, September 27). X-ray Spectroscopy of Young SNR. Retrieved
September 18, 2014, from
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/topics/snr_group/spec_short.html
Johnson, H., Reynolds, S., Frohlich, C., & Blondin, J. (n.d.). 3D Simulations of
Supernova Remnants from Type Ia Supernova Models. Retrieved September 22, 2014,
from http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014AAS...22335324J
Netting, R. (2014, May 14). Stars. Retrieved from
http://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve/
Rauber, A., Copetti, M., & Krabbe, A. (2013, December 31). Spectroscopic mapping of
the planetary nebula NGC 6302. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
Satterfield, T. (2010, April 1). The Elemental Composition and the Spatial Distributions
of Elements in the Crab Nebula.
Supernovae. (2011, January 1). Retrieved from
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/supernovae.html
X - Ray Spectroscopy of Supernova Remnants. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2014,
from http://chandra.harvard.edu/edu/formal/snr/bg.pdf