Dust in the Tycho, Kepler and Crab supernova remnants

SuperNova Remnants (SNR) have been extensively studied in radio, X-rays and optical, but barely in the InfraRed (IR). From IRAS observations, SNR are known to be IR emitters, but the origin of the emission is difficult to assess because of the limited angular and spectral resolution of IRAS observations. ISO follow-up observations of the Cassiopeia-A SNR have shown that the mid-IR radiation from this remnant was dominated by thermal emission from silicate condensates made from SN material. These condensates constitute a probe which can provide unique information about element mixing inside a SN. In this paper, we present ISOCAM observations of the three other young SNR's known in our galaxy: the Kepler SNR, the Tycho SNR and the Crab Nebula. The emission observed from the Kepler SNR is dominated by dust thermal emission. The dust at the origin of the IR emission is circumstellar, not from SN condensates. "Astronomical" silicates, collisionally heated to a temperature of 107 K, can account for both the mid-IR ISO data and the IRAS data. The IR emission from Tycho is probably also emitted by circumstellar or interstellar dust. In order to reproduce both the mid-IR ISO data and the IRAS data, a model with two dust components, one at a temperature of 107 K and the other at 55 K, is needed. The mid-IR emission from the Crab is dominated by synchrotron radiation; no dust is detected.