How fast are the projectiles from a supernova?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the velocities of projectiles resulting from supernova explosions, exploring various types of supernovae and their ejecta. Participants examine the nature of these projectiles, including photons, neutrinos, and gas, and consider the phases of supernova remnants (SNRs) and their evolution over time.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that the term "projectile" can vary in meaning, with photons and neutrinos being ejected at speeds close to the speed of light, while heavier elements like iron and helium are expelled at significantly lower velocities.
  • One participant describes a three-phase model of SNR evolution, detailing the characteristics of each phase, including free expansion, the Sedov phase, and the snow-plow phase, and their implications for velocity changes over time.
  • Another participant mentions that the speed of a shock wave from a supernova remnant, such as the Cygnus Loop, has been estimated at around 168 kilometers per second based on observations of ionized atomic oxygen.
  • There is a discussion about the speed of sound in the context of supernova ejecta, with some participants arguing that the gas moves at sound speed rather than as discrete projectiles, especially as it interacts with the interstellar medium.
  • Participants note that while neutrinos and photons are emitted in large quantities, their behavior differs from that of baryonic matter, which tends to clump and form jets, leading to a more complex understanding of the dynamics involved.
  • One participant expresses a desire to focus on the macro-level aspects of supernova remnants rather than the behavior of photons and neutrinos.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of projectiles from supernovae, particularly regarding the significance of photons and neutrinos compared to gas. There is no consensus on the velocities of these projectiles or the implications of their behavior in the context of supernova dynamics.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference various phases of SNR evolution and the complexities of shock waves, but there are unresolved assumptions regarding the definitions of projectiles and the conditions under which different velocities apply.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those studying astrophysics, particularly in the areas of supernova mechanics, stellar evolution, and the behavior of high-energy particles in astrophysical contexts.

Gannet
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I was wondering for the majority of the projectiles from supernova what would be roughly their velocities. Has anything been determined or theorized?

Thanks in advance
 
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Gannet said:
I was wondering for the majority of the projectiles from supernova what would be roughly their velocities. Has anything been determined or theorized?

Thanks in advance

That really depends on what you mean by projectile, and the type of supernova. A somewhat glib answer would be "the speed of light", as photons and neutrinos far outnumber iron or helium molecules being blown out from the shockwave.
 
nismaratwork said:
That really depends on what you mean by projectile, and the type of supernova. A somewhat glib answer would be "the speed of light", as photons and neutrinos far outnumber iron or helium molecules being blown out from the shockwave.

Thanks nismaratwork for replying

After researching I learned the following:

At http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/supernova_remnants.html"

The stages of a SNR's life represent an area of current study; however, basic theories yield a three-phase analysis of SNR evolution.
(1) In the first phase, free expansion, the front of the expansion is formed from the shock wave interacting with the ambient ISM. This phase is characterized by constant temperature within the SNR and constant expansion velocity of the shell. It lasts a couple hundred years.
(2) During the second phase, known as the Sedov or Adiabatic Phase, the SNR material slowly begins to decelerate by 1/r(3/2) and cool by 1/r3 (r being the radius of the SNR). In this phase, the main shell of the SNR is Rayleigh-Taylor unstable, and the SNR's ejecta becomes mixed up with the gas that was just shocked by the initial shock wave. This mixing also enhances the magnetic field inside the SNR shell. This phase lasts 10,000 - 20,000 years.
(3) The third phase, the Snow-plow or Radiative phase, begins after the shell has cooled down to about 106 K. At this stage, electrons begin recombining with the heavier atoms (like oxygen) so the shell can more efficiently radiate energy. This, in turn, cools the shell faster, making it shrink and become more dense. The more the shell cools, the more atoms can recombine, creating a snowball effect. Because of this snowball effect, the SNR quickly develops a thin shell and radiates most of its energy away as optical light. The velocity now decreases as 1/r3. Outward expansion stops and the SNR starts to collapse under its own gravity. This lasts a few hundreds of thousands of years. After millions of years, the SNR will be absorbed into the interstellar medium due to Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities breaking material away from the SNR's outer shell.

At http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n18_v139/ai_10808855/?tag=content;col1"

Astronomers working with HUT have also calculated the speed of a shock wave plowing through interstellar space from the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant about 26,000 light-years from Earth. The supernova's shock wave proved energetic enough to strip five of eight electrons from atomic oxygen gas and induced these ionized atoms to emit the ultraviolet light detected by HUT, reports Arthur F. Davidsen of Johns Hopkins University. Equating the energy of the emitted ultraviolet light with the kinetic energy of the passing shock wave, Davidsen's team estimates that the wave was speeding along at 168 kilometers per second.

At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova"

The explosion expels much or all of a star's material at a velocity of up to 30,000 km/s (10% of the speed of light), driving a shock wave into the surrounding interstellar medium.

And various types:
Type Ia Lacks hydrogen and presents a singly ionized silicon (Si II) line at 615.0 nm (nanometers), near peak light.
Type Ib Non-ionized helium (He I) line at 587.6 nm and no strong silicon absorption feature near 615 nm.
Type Ic Weak or no helium lines and no strong silicon absorption feature near 615 nm.
Type IIP Reaches a "plateau" in its light curve
Type IIL Displays a "linear" decrease in its light curve (linear in magnitude versus time).

After the researching I have done so far, I would like to create a velocity chart based on Type and Phase.
 
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nismaratwork said:
That really depends on what you mean by projectile, and the type of supernova. A somewhat glib answer would be "the speed of light", as photons and neutrinos far outnumber iron or helium molecules being blown out from the shockwave.

The picture that you should have is a shock wave, and not of projectiles. Everything is a gas, and the fastest things can travel for extended periods of time is the sound speed. Anything that travels much faster than the sound speed will get slowed down with shocks.

More accurately the gas moves roughly at the speed of sound. Near the core the speed of sound is roughly one tenth the speed of light. Once you get into the interstellar medium, the speed of sound drops considerably. The speed of sound is roughly sqrt(gamma pressure / density).

Some wikipedia pages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_wave
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankine–Hugoniot_conditions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_wave

(Also I'll likely be adding something for the Sedov blast wave solution and rewriting the Hugoinot conditions page. Both are cool because you can get a lot with some simple algebra).
 
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twofish-quant said:
The picture that you should have is a shock wave, and not of projectiles. Everything is a gas, and the fastest things can travel for extended periods of time is the sound speed. Anything that travels much faster than the sound speed will get slowed down with shocks.

More accurately the gas moves roughly at the speed of sound. Near the core the speed of sound is roughly one tenth the speed of light. Once you get into the interstellar medium, the speed of sound drops considerably. The speed of sound is roughly sqrt(gamma pressure / density).

Some wikipedia pages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_wave
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankine–Hugoniot_conditions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_wave

(Also I'll likely be adding something for the Sedov blast wave solution and rewriting the Hugoinot conditions page. Both are cool because you can get a lot with some simple algebra).

Yep, that's pretty much how I see it, but again a huge portion of what actually escapes are neutrinos, and photons, which tends to be more "jet-like". Neutrinos in particular are ejected in an asymmetric fashion, but I take your point; this is no volcano tossing "chunks" of star into interstellar space... it's a shock-front followed by "dust". Thanks for the links, and I look forward to your additions to come.
 
nismaratwork said:
Yep, that's pretty much how I see it, but again a huge portion of what actually escapes are neutrinos, and photons, which tends to be more "jet-like".

That's not likely to be the case. The neutrino and photon fields are a lot more smooth and symmetric than the gas. It's the gas that forms jets. Baryonic matter tends to clump whereas photons and neutrinos tend not to, and so when you do the calculations the neutrinos and photons are a lot more smooth than the gas.

One way of thinking about it, is try to build a doghouse out of neutrons and protons. Not hard. Now try to build a doghouse out of neutrinos or photons. It's really hard to get neutrinos and photons to clump together.

Also internal of the star is optically thick, which means that the photons are pretty much trapped with the gas until the shock wave hits the surface.

Neutrinos in particular are ejected in an asymmetric fashion

They aren't in any of the simulations that I am aware of. There are huge asymmetries but those are mostly in the gas field.
 
I was hoping to learn about supernova remnants (SNRs) at the chunk (macro) level.

I didn't think to understand SNRs, I had to get into the photons and neutrinos (micro) level.

But like nismaratwork stated
That really depends on what you mean by projectile

But I do appreciate yours inputs.
 
I was hoping to learn about supernova remnants (SNRs) at the chunk (macro) level.
There's a trick some people use in this forum: if they want to learn about supernova remnants, they ask about supernova remnants. Try it next time.
That said, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar_kicks" is always a good start. I better leave the details for the more knowledgeable people here.
 
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twofish-quant said:
That's not likely to be the case. The neutrino and photon fields are a lot more smooth and symmetric than the gas. It's the gas that forms jets. Baryonic matter tends to clump whereas photons and neutrinos tend not to, and so when you do the calculations the neutrinos and photons are a lot more smooth than the gas.

One way of thinking about it, is try to build a doghouse out of neutrons and protons. Not hard. Now try to build a doghouse out of neutrinos or photons. It's really hard to get neutrinos and photons to clump together.

Also internal of the star is optically thick, which means that the photons are pretty much trapped with the gas until the shock wave hits the surface.



They aren't in any of the simulations that I am aware of. There are huge asymmetries but those are mostly in the gas field.

I should clarify this, I don't mean that there are polar jets of neutrinos, but that anisotropy in neutrino emission helps to drive the jets you describe. There are asymmetries of the production of flavor of neutrino and oscillation.

http://iopscience.iop.org/0067-0049/163/2/335/pdf/0067-0049_163_2_335.pdf

Asymmetric drift flux...
http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0307006
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/econf/C0805263/ProcContrib/budge_k.pdf
 
  • #10
nismaratwork said:
I should clarify this, I don't mean that there are polar jets of neutrinos, but that anisotropy in neutrino emission helps to drive the jets you describe.

Maybe.

The papers that you've cited suggest this as a possible mechanism, but if you look at more recent simulations by Burrows, the Max-Planck team, and Mezzacappa, it seems that the main drivers of asymmetry are hydrodynamic, and I don't get the sense that the most recent results show that neutrino asymmetries play a strong role in the explosion mechanism.

There are asymmetries of the production of flavor of neutrino and oscillation.

That's not what Fryer's paper says. What it says is that if you assume that there is an asymmetry in neutrino production and oscillation, then it helps the explosion. He is being very speculative here, but that's what theorists do.

http://iopscience.iop.org/0067-0049/163/2/335/pdf/0067-0049_163_2_335.pdf


Also lots of speculation. Speculation is not a bad thing, but you have to realize that all of these papers are just guessing, and there is nothing firm about any of these. Looking at the more recent papers, I'm not getting the sense that neutrino asymmetry is particularly strong.
 

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