Element mixing in the Cassiopeia A supernova

Abstract

Thanks to mid-infrared observations, we provide new clues to the element mixing during a supernova explosion by probing the mixing between three adjacent layers: the oxygen burning products layer (sulfur, argon,...), the silicate layer and the neon layer. The silicate and neon layers are both contaminated by sulfur and argon in a macroscopic way, but appear segregated, so that the mixing is heterogeneous. This finding complements the microscopic mixing information deduced from presolar grains found in meteorites and implies that, at present time, supernovae are probably not the main dust factory in the Galaxy. The mixing is often interpreted in terms of hydrodynamical instabilities driven by the outward shock following the implosion of the supernova core. Testing whether such instabilities can lead to the injection of material from a layer into upper layers without complete mixing, as suggested by the observations presented in this paper, should be possible with the intense lasers which are starting to be used to simulate astrophysical plasmas.