Abstract

Contributed Talk - Splinter SNR

Tuesday, 10 September 2024, 15:15   (S14)

Investigating the impact of supernova explosions in a diverse set of dusty ISM environments

Sartorio, N. S.; Kirchschlager, F.; Scheffler, T.; De Looze, I.
Ghent University

Despite extensive investigation, the impact of supernovae on the dust budget remains an unresolved issue in astrophysics. Detection of newly formed dust grains in the ejecta of young supernova remnants, such as SN 1987A and Cas A, highlights their potential to condense up to one solar mass of dust in a short period. Core-collapse supernovae have thus emerged as significant sources of interstellar dust, not only locally but also in the high-redshift Universe. However, the extent to which supernova dust contributes to the interstellar medium remains unclear. While attention has focused on the role of the reverse shock in dust destruction, the forward shock alone is anticipated to annihilate substantial quantities of dust within the circumstellar medium. Numerical simulations project that a supernova forward shock could sweep up several thousand solar masses, endangering tens of solar masses of dust grains to sputtering and shattering processes. If a single supernova destroys more than a few solar masses, it could be classified definitively as a dust sink rather than a dust producer. Thus, a deeper understanding of forward shock-induced dust destruction is imperative to assess supernovae's impact on the dust budget. This presentation elucidates the critical influence of environmental heterogeneity on the forward shock's efficacy in dust destruction. Through 3D simulations of forward shock expansion across diverse circumstellar medium environments characterized by varying turbulence levels, pre-shock gas temperatures, and densities, we demonstrate how minor changes to these parameters can lead to substantial variations in dust destruction, often by an order of magnitude. These findings may shift the balance, once again positioning supernovae as potential dust producers.