Cassiopeia A: Interaction with a dense shell

3D ModelNoAI

Hydrodynamic modeling of the evolution of a neutrino-driven core-collapse supernova to the phase of supernova remnant at the age of Cassiopeia A suggests that some features observed in the remnant are due to its interaction with an asymmetric circumstellar shell. The scene shows the isosurface of the distribution of iron (corresponding to a value of iron density which is at 5% of the peak density) at the age of Cassiopeia A for one of these models; the colors give the radial velocity on the isosurface (color coding defined at the bottom). The semi-transparent quasi-spherical surfaces indicate the forward (green) and reverse (yellow) shocks. The shocked shell is visualized through a volume rendering that uses the blue color palette (color coding on the right); the opacity is proportional to the plasma density.

Reference: Orlando et al. 2022, in preparation