Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Are Ti44-Producing Supernovae Exceptional?, L.-S. The, Donald Clayton, R Diehl, Dieter Hartmann, A Iyudin, M Leising, B Meyer, Y Motizuki, V Schönfelder

Donald D Clayton

According to standard models supernovae produce radioactive 44Ti, which should be visible in gamma-rays following decay to 44Ca for a few centuries. 44Ti production is believed to be the source of cosmic 44Ca, whose abundance is well established. Yet, gamma-ray telescopes have not seen the expected young remnants of core collapse events. The 44Ti mean life of 89 y and the Galactic supernova rate of 3/100 y imply several detectable 44Ti gamma-ray sources, but only one is clearly seen, the 340-year-old Cas A SNR. Furthermore, supernovae which produce much 44Ti are expected to occur primarily in the inner part of …