Dust destruction and survival in the Cassiopeia A reverse shock. Issue 3 (3rd November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Priestley, F D; Arias, M; Barlow, M J; De Looze, I
• Is Part Of: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Volume 509:Issue 3(2022)
• Page Start: 3163
• Page End: 3171
• Publication Date: 2021-11-03
• Subjects: supernovae: individual: Cassiopeia A -- dust, extinction -- ISM: evolution -- ISM: supernova remnants; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stab3195
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0035-8711

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) produce large ($\gtrsim0.1\, {\rm M}_\odot$ ) masses of dust, and are potentially the primary source of dust in the Universe, but much of this dust may be destroyed before reaching the interstellar medium. Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is the only supernova remnant where an observational measurement of the dust destruction efficiency in the reverse shock is possible at present. We determine the pre- and post-shock dust masses in Cas A using a substantially improved dust emission model. In our preferred models, the unshocked ejecta contains $0.6\!-\!0.8\, {\rm M}_\odot$ of $0.1\, {\rm \mu m}$ silicate grains, while the post-shock ejecta has $0.02\!-\!0.09\, {\rm M}_\odot$ of $5\!-\!10 \, {\rm nm}$ grains in dense clumps, and $2 \times 10^{-3}\, {\rm M}_\odot$ of $0.1 \, {\rm \mu m}$ grains in the diffuse X-ray emitting shocked ejecta. The implied dust destruction efficiency is $74\!-\!94\, {\rm per\, cent}$ in the clumps and $92\!-\!98\, {\rm per\, cent}$ overall, giving Cas A a final dust yield of $0.05\!-\!0.30\, {\rm M}_\odot$ . If the unshocked ejecta grains are larger than $0.1\, {\rm \mu m}$, the dust masses are higher, the destruction efficiencies are lower, and the final yield may exceed $0.5\, {\rm M}_\odot$ . As Cas A has a dense circumstellar environment and thus a much stronger reverse shock than is typical, the average dust destruction efficiency across all CCSNe is likely to be lower, and the average dust yield higher. This supports a mostly stellar origin for the cosmic dust budget.