Dynamical Preconditions for Ice Formation in Supernova Remnant and Cloud Interactions: A 2D MHD Study

TL;DR

This study uses 2D MHD simulations to explore how supernova shocks compress interstellar clouds, creating conditions conducive to water ice formation despite high temperatures, with implications for understanding dust survival in remnants.

Contribution

It demonstrates that shock-cloud interactions can produce dense, cooled regions suitable for ice formation, highlighting a new mechanism for ice presence in supernova remnants.

Findings

Shock compresses clouds into dense structures.

Cooling processes can rapidly lower temperatures.

Conditions become favorable for water ice formation.

Abstract

Water ice has been detected in several supernova remnants despite the strong heating and radiation in these environments. This challenges standard expectations for dust survival. Using two dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we study how a supernova shock interacts with a dense interstellar cloud. The simulations show that the shock naturally compresses the cloud into dense structures similar to those inferred in well known remnants. Although temperatures remain high in the adiabatic phase, simple considerations indicate that cooling would act quickly once included. These results suggest that shock cloud interactions create the physical conditions needed for water ice to form. Future work including radiative cooling and grain surface chemistry will allow direct modelling of ice growth in these compressed regions.