2,675 research outputs found
Supernova 1996L: evidence of a strong wind episode before the explosion
Observations of the type II SN 1996L reveal the presence of a slowly
expanding (V~700$ km/s) shell at ~ 10^(16) cm from the exploding star. Narrow
emission features are visible in the early spectra superposed on the normal SN
spectrum. Within about two months these features develop narrow symmetric
P-Cygni profiles. About 100 days after the explosion the light curve suddenly
flattens, the spectral lines broaden and the Halpha flux becomes larger than
what is expected from a purely radioactive model. These events are interpreted
as signatures of the onset of the interaction between the fast moving ejecta
and a slowly moving outer shell of matter ejected before the SN explosion. At
about 300 days the narrow lines disappear and the flux drops until the SN fades
away, suggesting that the interaction phase is over and that the shell has been
swept away. Simple calculations show that the superwind episode started 9 yr
before the SN explosion and lasted 6 yr, with an average dM/dt=10^(-3)
M_solar/yr. Even at very late epochs (up to day 335) the typical forbidden
lines of [OI], CaII], [FeII] remain undetected or very weak. Spectra after day
270 show relatively strong emission lines of HeI. These lines are narrower than
other emission lines coming from the SN ejecta, but broader than those from the
CSM. These high excitation lines are probably the result of non-thermal
excitation and ionization caused by the deposition of the gamma-rays emitted in
the decay of radioactive material mixed in the He layer.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Latex, To appear in M.N.R.A.
A Common Explosion Mechanism for Type Ia Supernovae
Type Ia supernovae, the thermonuclear explosions of white dwarf stars
composed of carbon and oxygen, were instrumental as distance indicators in
establishing the acceleration of the universe's expansion. However, the physics
of the explosion are debated. Here we report a systematic spectral analysis of
a large sample of well observed type Ia supernovae. Mapping the velocity
distribution of the main products of nuclear burning, we constrain theoretical
scenarios. We find that all supernovae have low-velocity cores of stable
iron-group elements. Outside this core, nickel-56 dominates the supernova
ejecta. The outer extent of the iron-group material depends on the amount of
nickel-56 and coincides with the inner extent of silicon, the principal product
of incomplete burning. The outer extent of the bulk of silicon is similar in
all SNe, having an expansion velocity of ~11000 km/s and corresponding to a
mass of slightly over one solar mass. This indicates that all the supernovae
considered here burned similar masses, and suggests that their progenitors had
the same mass. Synthetic light curve parameters and three-dimensional explosion
simulations support this interpretation. A single explosion scenario, possibly
a delayed detonation, may thus explain most type Ia supernovae.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Type II Supernovae as Standardized Candles
We present evidence for a correlation between expansion velocities of the
ejecta of Type II plateau supernovae and their bolometric luminosities during
the plateau phase. This correlation permits one to standardize the candles and
decrease the scatter in the Hubble diagram from ~1 mag to a level of 0.4 and
0.3 mag in the V and I bands, respectively. When we restrict the sample to the
eight objects which are well in the Hubble flow (cz > 3,000 km/s) the scatter
drops even further to only 0.2 mag (or 9% in distance), which is comparable to
the precision yielded by Type Ia supernovae and far better than the ``expanding
photosphere method'' applied to Type II supernovae. Using SN 1987A to calibrate
the Hubble diagrams we get Ho=55+/-12.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted by ApJ
Spectral luminosity indicators in SNe Ia - Understanding the R(SiII) line strength ratio and beyond
SNe Ia are good distance indicators because the shape of their light curves,
which can be measured independently of distance, varies smoothly with
luminosity. This suggests that SNe Ia are a single family of events. Similar
correlations are observed between luminosity and spectral properties. In
particular, the ratio of the strengths of the SiII \lambda 5972 and \lambda
6355 lines, known as R(SiII), was suggested as a potential luminosity
indicator. Here, the physical reasons for the observed correlation are
investigated. A Monte-Carlo code is used to construct a sequence of synthetic
spectra resembling those of SNe with different luminosities near B maximum. The
influence of abundances and of ionisation and excitation conditions on the
synthetic spectral features is investigated. The ratio R(SiII) depends
ssentially on the strength of SiII \lambda 5972, because SiII \lambda 6355 is
saturated. In less luminous objects, SiII \lambda 5972 is stronger because of a
rapidly increasing SiII/SiIII ratio. Thus, the correlation between R(SiII) and
luminosity is the effect of ionisation balance. The SiII \lambda 5972 line
itself may be the best spectroscopic luminosity indicator for SNe Ia, but all
indicators discussed show scatter which may be related to abundance
distributions.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
VLT Spectropolarimetry of the optical transient in NGC300. Evidence for asymmetry in the circumstellar dust
AIMS: The main goal of this work is to study possible signs of asymmetry in
the bright optical transient in NGC300, with the aim of getting independent
information on the explosion mechanism, the progenitor star and its
circumstellar environment.
METHODS: Using VLT-FORS1 we have obtained low-resolution optical linear
spectropolarimetry of NGC300 OT2008-1 on two epochs, 48 and 55 days after the
discovery, covering the spectral range 3600--9330A.
RESULTS: The data show a continuum polarization at a very significant level.
At least two separate components are identified. The first is characterized by
a strong wavelength dependency and a constant position angle (68.6+/-0.3
degrees), which is parallel to the local spiral arm of the host galaxy. The
second shows a completely different position angle (151.3+/-0.4) and displays a
mild but statistically significant evolution between the two epochs. While the
former is identified as arising in the interstellar dust associated with
NGC300, the latter is most likely due to continuum polarization by dust
scattering in the circumstellar environment. No line depolarization is detected
in correspondence of the most intense emission lines, disfavoring electron
scattering as the source of intrinsic polarization. This implies a very small
deviation from symmetry in the continuum-forming region. Given the observed
level of intrinsic polarization, the transient must be surrounded by a
significant amount of dust (>4x10^-5 Msun), asymmetrically distributed within a
few thousand AU. This most likely implies that one or more asymmetric outflow
episodes took place during the past history of the progenitor.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 16 pages, 16
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