CSI: Princeton -- A Definitive Investigation of the Core-Collapse Supernova Cassiopeia A

Date
Apr 17, 2017Apr 19, 2017
Location
PCTS, Jadwin Hall, Room 407

Details

Event Description

This meeting is by invitation only.

Organizers: Adam Burrows (Princeton); Dan Milisavljevic (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics);Nathan Smith (University of Arizona); Armin Rest (Space Telescope Science Institute);Daniel Patnaude (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory)

Core-collapse supernovae are among the most powerful and consequential explosions in the universe. It is increasingly clear, however, that our understanding of core-collapse supernovae is incomplete. Developing a coherent understanding of the complex dynamical processes associated with the deaths of massive stars requires the cooperative expertise of a wide variety of scientists. To this end, we are organizing a workshop to be hosted at the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science that seeks to bring together an interdisciplinary group of scientists to perform an holistic case study (i.e., ``Crime Scene Investigation" or CSI) of a prototypical example: the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A). Topics to be covered include pre-supernova evolution and mass loss, explosion mechanisms, progenitor systems, explosive nucleosynthesis, dust, morphology, and mixing. The definitive understanding we wish to achieve by examining Cas A in fine detail will be extended to a larger family of core-collapse supernovae and closely related analog objects.