Schock Dynamics of the Newborn Supernova Remnant SNR1987A

We propose a 140 ks observation of the rapidly brightening newborn supernovaremnant SN1987A. This observation will provide RGS grating spectra andnondispersed with sufficient statistics to: (1) constrain element abundances,electron temperatures, and ionization times; (2) determine line profiles andshock velocities; (3) measure changes in line ratios and profiles as thesupernova blast wave enters the circumstellar ring. The members of our combinedUSMPE proposal team have approved ongoing programs to observe SN1987A with theACIS imaging spectrometer on the Chandra observatory and optical/UV spectra fromthe Hubble Space Telescope. We will develop a unified physical model tointerpret the XMMNewton data along with imaged data from Chandra and HST. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]