DEM L 316: A Pair of Colliding Supernova Remnants
DEM L 316 is a pair of supernova remnants (SNRs) located in the
the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). At radio and optical wavelengths,
it shows two connecting shells, suggesting that the pair may be
interacting with each other. This makes it a fascinating object
to scientists and the public alike. Read on!
(Click on any of the images below for a larger picture.)
Press Release
These images were presented to the American Astronomical Society meeting
in Madison, Wisconsin on June 12, 1996. The false-color images show
DEM L 316 at X-ray (left) and optical (right) wavelengths. The X-ray
image was taken with the High Resolution Imager (HRI) on the ROSAT
satellite. The optical (H-alpha) image was taken with the 0.6-meter
Curtis-Schmidt telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.
(Photo Credit: Rosa Murphy Williams, You-Hua Chu, John R. Dickel,
Ross Beyer, Robert Petre, R. Chris Smith and D.K. Milne)
Read all about this object in our press
release of June 12, 1996.
DEM L 316 has received mention in the following publications:
Paper
This work was presented in poster form at the American Astronomical Society
meeting in Madison, Wisconsin on June 12, 1996 (BAAS, 28, 924). A more
extensive analysis of DEM L 316 is provided in a paper submitted to the
Astrophysical Journal (Williams et al. 1997, ApJ 480, 618).
The abstract of this paper is given below.
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) supernova remnant (SNR) DEM L 316
is of considerable interest, as it shows two connecting shells at radio and
optical wavelengths. This morphology suggests that DEM L 316 is in fact two
SNRs, which may or may not be spatially connected. We have observed the
DEM L 316 remnants at optical, radio, and X-ray wavelengths, in order to
address the question of whether the SNRs are interacting, and if so,
whether a tunnel might have formed between the remnants, allowing
them to equilibrate. Besides the connecting shell morphologies at
optical and radio wavelengths, our observations show enhanced O III
emission at the juncture between the shells; enhanced X-ray emission
from one shell at that juncture; and a change in the structure of the
magnetic field near the interaction region. These factors strongly
imply that the two remnants are indeed colliding. In addition,
we have done a detailed study on the physical properties of the
remnants, including an examination of thermal and kinetic energies, and
of the balance of thermal and magnetic pressures.
This paper is available through the ADS Astronomy Abstract Service; see
Supernova Remnants in the Magellanic Clouds. I. The Colliding Remnants
DEM L316
This paper can also be downloaded in Postscript form from these local links
to the Text
and Figures
(large!)
Portrait Gallery
(First image) This image shows Xray contours from the ROSAT HRI superposed
on the H-alpha image taken at CTIO. (Second image)
This H-alpha image, taken at CTIO, shows DEM L 316 in
relation to the nearby supergiant shell, LMC2. DEM L 316 is to the
lower left.
These images show DEML316 at [OIII] (first image) and radio 5 cm (second image)
wavelengths.
These images show emission in H-alpha (red), [S II] (green) and [O III] (blue).
The left image is DEML316 alone, the right DEML316 and LMC2.
These files contain higher-resolution GIF pictures.
This page was last modified on 15 September 1999.
These pages copyright
Rosa Williams and collaborators,
1997-1999.
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