Instability and clumping in SN 1987A

Abstract

Two-dimensional hydrodynamic calculations of Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in the ejecta of SN 1987A are described. These calculations covering the first few hours of the evolution were performed on a grid of 1000 2 , which provides significantly better resolution than obtained in previous calculations. As a result of the improved resolution, two new regions of instability were discovered. In addition, the structure of the Rayleigh-Taylor fingers became much more complex. The numerical experiment was found to be consistent with a linear stability analysis