The SN 1987A Link to Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

Early measurements of SN 1987A indicate a beam/jet (BJ) which hit polar ejecta (PE) to produce the "Mystery Spot" (MS). The SN flash takes an extra 8 d to hit the MS, and this was confirmed at 2e39 ergs/s in the optical at day 8. A ramp in luminosity starting near day 10 indicates particles from the BJ hitting the PE, with the fastest particles traveling at 0.8 c, and an upper limit for the optical luminosity of the MS of 5e40 ergs/s at day 20. The details of SN 1987A strongly suggest that it resulted from a merger of 2 stellar cores of a common envelope (CE) binary, i.e. a "double-degenerate" (DD)-initiated SN, and is thus the Rosetta Stone for 99% of MSPs in the non-core-collapsed globular clusters, GRBs, and SNe, including all recent nearby SNe except SN 1986J and the more distant SN 2006gy. Without having to blast through the CE of Sk -69 202, it is likely that the BJ would have caused a full, long-soft gamma-ray burst (lGRB) upon hitting the PE, thus DD can produce lGRBs. The typical 0.5 deg collimation of a GRB, over the 22 lt-d from SN 1987A to its PE, produces ~100 s of delay, MATCHING the observed delay of the non-prompt parts of lGRBs. Because DD must be the dominant SN mechanism in elliptical galaxies, where only short, hard GRBs (sGRBs) have been observed, DD without CE or PE must also make sGRBs, thus the initial photon spectrum of 99% of ALL GRBs is KNOWN, & neutron star (NS)-NS mergers may not make GRBs as we know them. Observations of Ia's strongly suggest that these are also DD, implying another systematic effect in Ia Cosmology, as Ia's will appear to be Ic's when viewed from their DD merger poles, given sufficient matter above that lost to core- collapse (otherwise it would just beg the question of what ELSE they could possibly be). There is no need to invent exotica, such as collapsars or hypernovae, to account for GRBs.