Program: GS-2006B-Q-3

SN1987A, the closest known supernova in 400 years, provides us with a unique laboratory for the detailed study of supernovae and their evolution towards supernova remnants. Physical and structural changes are now occuring on the times scales of months as this remnant evolves. The proposed T-ReCS observations are part of a multi-wavelength campain to acheive near-simultaneous observations of SN1987A using Chandra, HST, Gemini South, and Spitzer. The T-ReCS observations are key to several primary goals of the project: 1) To obtain high spatial resolution mid-infrared images contemporary with the HST and Chandra X-ray allowing us to locate the precise location of the dust emision in the remnant and hence determine the heating mechanism, 2) To continue to monitor evolutionary effects (i.e. morphology and dust temperature) of the dust in the remnant, and 3) To reobserve the ejecta in the mid-infrared to assess the survival or destruction of the dust which condensed in the explosion and derive physical characteristics (i.e. temperature, dust mass, etc.) of its present state. We ask for two epochs of T-ReCS observations, separated by several months and contemporary with the observations at other wavelengths, to fulfill the goals of our project.