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Science 10 June 2005:
Vol. 308. no. 5728, pp. 1604 - 1606
DOI: 10.1126/science.1112035
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Reports

Infrared Echoes near the Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

Oliver Krause,1* George H. Rieke,1 Stephan M. Birkmann,2 Emeric Le Floc'h,1 Karl D. Gordon,1 Eiichi Egami,1 John Bieging,1 John P. Hughes,3 Erick T. Young,1 Joannah L. Hinz,1 Sascha P. Quanz,2 Dean C. Hines4

Two images of Cassiopeia A obtained at 24 micrometers with the Spitzer Space Telescope over a 1-year time interval show moving structures outside the shell of the supernova remnant to a distance of more than 20 arc minutes. Individual features exhibit apparent motions of 10 to 20 arc seconds per year, independently confirmed by near-infrared observations. The observed tangential velocities are at roughly the speed of light. It is likely that the moving structures are infrared echoes, in which interstellar dust is heated by the explosion and by flares from the compact object near the center of the remnant.

1 Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
2 Max Planck Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
4 Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: krause{at}as.arizona.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Cassiopeia A Supernova Was of Type IIb.
O. Krause, S. M. Birkmann, T. Usuda, T. Hattori, M. Goto, G. H. Rieke, and K. A. Misselt (2008)
Science 320, 1195-1197
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)