Jet-powered explosion of a red supergiant

The jet shown here at 27 seconds has overtaken the supernova shock and will reach the surface of the star and cause an asperical explosion before the spherical supernova propogates out of the central regions of the star. The jet is powered by one tenth of a percent (0.001) of the rest mass energy which is falling through the inner boundary in the equatorial region (black). The colors represent the logarithm of radial velocity in kilometers per second. The fastest material (red) is travelling at nearly half the speed of light. The spherical blue region is the supernova explosion which contains more than 2.5x10^50 ergs of energy and is traveling at a few thousand kilometers per second. The thin red circle represents the edge of the carbon/oxygen core of the star. The rest of the star exterior to the circle is composed primarily of helium.

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Andrew MacFadyen- andrew@ucolick.org - October 25, 1999
Kerr Hall 237B - (831)459-2774
Lick Observatory and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
UC Santa Cruz, CA 95064, U.S.A.