We report on third epoch VLBI observations of the radio-bright supernova SN 2011dh located in the nearby (7.8 Mpc) galaxy M51. The observations took place at $t=453$ d after the explosion and at a frequency of 8.4 GHz. We obtained a fairly well resolved image of the shell of SN 2011dh, making it one of only six recent supernovae for which resolved images of the ejecta are available. SN 2011dh has a relatively clear shell morphology, being almost circular in outline, although there may be some asymmetry in brightness around the ridge. By fitting a spherical shell model directly to the visibility measurements we determine the angular radius of SN 2011dh's radio emission to be $636 \pm 29$ $μ$as. At a distance of 7.8 Mpc, this angular radius corresponds to a linear radius of $(7.4 \pm 0.3) \times 10^{16}$ cm and an average expansion velocity since the explosion of $19000^{+2800}_{-2400}$ kms$^{-1}$. We combine our VLBI measurements of SN 2011dh's radius with values determined from the radio spectral energy distribution under the assumption of a synchrotron-self-absorbed spectrum, and find all the radii are consistent with a power-law evolution, with $R \sim t^{0.97\pm0.01}$, implying almost free expansion over the period $t=4$ d to 453 d.
Optical and Infrared Imaging and Spectroscopy of the Multiple-Shell Planetary Nebula NGC 6369
NGC 6369是一个双壳层行星状星云(PN),由明亮的环形内壳层和暗淡的双极扩展层组成。我们已经使用地面和空间的窄带光学和近红外图像,宽带中红外图像,光学长缝阶梯光谱,和中红外光谱来研究它的物理结构。这些观测结果表明,NGC 6369的内壳可以被描述为一个类似于桶的结构形状与极性泡状突起,并揭示了H2和强多环芳烃(PAHs)的光离解区(PDR)的证据位于明亮的内壳外的分子夹杂物。高分辨率的哈勃望远镜窄带图像揭示了一个复杂的激发结构的内壳和一个系统的“彗星”结。NGC 6369的包层看起来很棘手,缺乏壳层膨胀的运动学证据,PDR外电离物质的发射明显存在,这些都使我们认为NGC 6369的包层不是一个真正的壳层,而是赤道区域的一个扁平结构。我们报告了在低激发和分子线发射中发现的不规则的结和斑点的扩散发射,这些发射位于距离中心恒星80”的地方,在主星云壳层之外。我们还表明,与极性突起相关联的细丝具有与冲击后冷却制度相一致的空间范围,并且可能代表这些结构与周围材料相互作用的区域。
Triggered Star Formation in a Double Shell near W51A
我们目前的海因里希赫兹望远镜CO观测的壳层结构附近的活跃的恒星形成复合体W51A的恒星形成过程中引发的HII区域的膨胀。CO观测结果证实,在斯皮策IRAC图像中检测到的外壳上收集了致密的分子物质。CO的分布表明,壳向西北方向的低密度区吹出。壳层周围的总氢柱密度高到足以形成新的恒星。我们发现两个CO冷凝具有相同的中心速度为59公里/秒的东部和北部沿边缘的IRAC壳。我们确定了两个YSO在早期的进化阶段(阶段0/I)内的densitive-molecular缩合。从CO运动学,我们发现,HII区目前正在扩大的速度为3.4公里/秒,这意味着壳的扩张年龄为~1百万年。这一时间尺度与HII区域扩张的数值模拟结果非常一致(Hosokawa et al. 2006)。我们的结论是,在壳的边界上的恒星形成是由HII区域的扩张触发的。