Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The |8. 1 m = 1| emission band of silicon monoxide detected in SN 1987A is modelled. Near day 500 the SiO mass is |4 2 10^-6 M_| and the excitation temperature is ∼ 1500 K. The mass of SiO is about 10 per cent of the mass of dust inferred from the mid-infrared emission near day 600, while the temperature is close to the condensation temperature of silicate grains. The SiO molecules may have been precursors to dust grain formation.
Roche et al. (Sun,) studied this question.