Silicon carbide grains of type C provide evidence for the production of the unstable isotope $^{32}$Si in supernovae

TL;DR

This paper investigates silicon carbide grains from supernovae, proposing that $^{32}$Si produced by neutron capture explains observed isotopic anomalies, providing insights into supernova nucleosynthesis conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a model where $^{32}$Si in C grains results from neutron capture in supernova ejecta, explaining isotopic signatures without requiring mixing from deeper layers.

Findings

$^{32}$Si presence explains $^{32}$S anomalies in C grains.

Neutron capture processes constrain supernova neutron densities.

Uncertainty in cross sections affects $^{32}$Si abundance estimates.

Abstract

Carbon-rich grains are observed to condense in the ejecta of recent core-collapse supernovae, within a year after the explosion. Silicon carbide grains of type X are C-rich grains with isotpic signatures of explosive supernova nucleosynthesis have been found in primitive meteorites. Much rarer silicon carbide grains of type C are a special sub-group of SiC grains from supernovae. They show peculiar abundance signatures for Si and S, isotopically heavy Si and isotopically light S, which appear to to be in disagreement with model predictions. We propose that C grains are formed mostly from C-rich stellar material exposed to lower SN shock temperatures than the more common type X grains. In this scenario, extreme $^{32}$S enrichments observed in C grains may be explained by the presence of short-lived $^{32}$Si ($\tau$$_{1/2}$ = 153 years) in the ejecta, produced by neutron capture processes starting from the stable Si isotopes. No mixing from deeper Si-rich material and/or fractionation of Si from S due to molecular chemistry is needed to explain the $^{32}$S enrichments. The abundance of $^{32}$Si in the grains can provide constraints on the neutron density reached during the supernova explosion in the C-rich He shell material. The impact of the large uncertainty of the neutron capture cross sections in the $^{32}$Si region is discussed.