Circumstellar Clumps in the Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant: Prepared to be Shocked

Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a young supernova remnant (SNR) where we observe the interaction of SNR blast wave with circumstellar medium. From the early optical studies, dense, slowly-moving, N-rich "quasi-stationary flocculi" (QSF) have been known. These are probably dense CNO-processed circumstellar knots that have been engulfed by the SNR blast wave. We have carried out near-infrared, high-resolution (R=45,000) spectroscopic observations of ~40 QSF, and here we present the result on a QSF knot (hereafter 'Knot 24') near the SNR boundary of Cas A. The average [Fe II] 1.644 um spectrum of Knot 24 has a remarkable shape with a narrow (~8 km/s) line superposed on the broad (~200 km/s) line emitted from shocked gas. The spatial morphology and the line parameters indicate that Knot 24 has been partially destroyed by a shock wave and that the narrow line is emitted from the unshocked material heated/ionized by the shock radiation. This is the first detection of the emission from the pristine circumstellar material of the Cas A supernova progenitor. We also detected H Br gamma and other [Fe II] lines corresponding to the narrow [Fe II] 1.644 um line. For the main clump where we can clearly identify the shock emission associated with the unshocked material, we analyze the observed line ratios using a shock model that includes radiative precursor. The analysis indicates that the majority of Fe in the unshocked material is in the gas phase, not depleted onto dust grains as in the general interstellar medium. We discuss the non-depletion of Fe in QSF and its implications on the immediate progenitor of the Cas A supernova.