SN 1987A Light Curves

Abstract

The observation of the light curves of SN1987A over a wide range of wavelengths is perhaps the most straightforward way of studying the energy generation and dissipation within the supernova. The measurements discussed here were made largely at the SAAO (MENZIES et al. [1], CATCHPOLE et al [2, 3, 4], WHITELOCK et al [5, 6] and the AAO (AITKEN and ROCHE private communication). These observations provide a coherent body of data covering the period from day 1.5 to 880, and comprise broad—band optical and infrared photometry. To the best of our knowledge photometry obtained in Chile and Australia provides very similar results if account is taken of the different filter transmissions and procedures for determining bolometric magnitudes in use at the various observatories.