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Title: Shock Breakout in Three-dimensional Red Supergiant Envelopes
Abstract UsingAthena++, we perform 3D radiation-hydrodynamic calculations of the radiative breakout of the shock wave in the outer envelope of a red supergiant (RSG) that has suffered core collapse and will become a Type IIP supernova. The intrinsically 3D structure of the fully convective RSG envelope yields key differences in the brightness and duration of the shock breakout (SBO) from that predicted in a 1D stellar model. First, the lower-density “halo” of material outside of the traditional photosphere in 3D models leads to a shock breakout at lower densities than 1D models. This would prolong the duration of the shock breakout flash at any given location on the surface to ≈1–2 hr. However, we find that the even larger impact is the intrinsically 3D effect associated with large-scale fluctuations in density that cause the shock to break out at different radii at different times. This substantially prolongs the SBO duration to ≈3–6 hr and implies a diversity of radiative temperatures, as different patches across the stellar surface are at different stages of their radiative breakout and cooling at any given time. These predicted durations are in better agreement with existing observations of SBO. The longer durations lower the predicted luminosities by a factor of 3–10 (Lbol∼ 1044erg s−1), and we derive the new scalings of brightness and duration with explosion energies and stellar properties. These intrinsically 3D properties eliminate the possibility of using observed rise times to measure the stellar radius via light-travel time effects.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1663688
PAR ID:
10368997
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Publisher / Repository:
DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume:
933
Issue:
2
ISSN:
0004-637X
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: Article No. 164
Size(s):
Article No. 164
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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