40 research outputs found
The host galaxy and late-time evolution of the Super-Luminous Supernova PTF12dam
Super-luminous supernovae of type Ic have a tendency to occur in faint host
galaxies which are likely to have low mass and low metallicity. PTF12dam is one
of the closest and best studied super-luminous explosions that has a broad and
slowly fading lightcurve similar to SN 2007bi. Here we present new photometry
and spectroscopy for PTF12dam from 200-500 days (rest-frame) after peak and a
detailed analysis of the host galaxy (SDSS J142446.21+461348.6 at z = 0.107).
Using deep templates and image subtraction we show that the full lightcurve can
be fit with a magnetar model if escape of high-energy gamma rays is taken into
account. The full bolometric lightcurve from -53 to +399 days (with respect to
peak) cannot be fit satisfactorily with the pair-instability models. An
alternative model of interaction with a dense CSM produces a good fit to the
data although this requires a very large mass (~ 13 M_sun) of hydrogen free
CSM. The host galaxy is a compact dwarf (physical size ~ 1.9 kpc) and with M_g
= -19.33 +/- 0.10, it is the brightest nearby SLSN Ic host discovered so far.
The host is a low mass system (2.8 x 10^8 M_sun) with a star-formation rate
(5.0 M_sun/year), which implies a very high specific star-formation rate (17.9
Gyr^-1). The remarkably strong nebular lines provide detections of the [O III]
\lambda 4363 and [O II] \lambda\lambda 7320,7330 auroral lines and an accurate
oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) = 8.05 +/- 0.09. We show here that they are
at the extreme end of the metallicity distribution of dwarf galaxies and
propose that low metallicity is a requirement to produce these rare and
peculiar supernovae.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication to MNRA
A comparative study of Type II-P and II-L supernova rise times as exemplified by the case of LSQ13cuw
We report on our findings based on the analysis of observations of the Type
II-L supernova LSQ13cuw within the framework of currently accepted physical
predictions of core-collapse supernova explosions. LSQ13cuw was discovered
within a day of explosion, hitherto unprecedented for Type II-L supernovae.
This motivated a comparative study of Type II-P and II-L supernovae with
relatively well-constrained explosion epochs and rise times to maximum
(optical) light. From our sample of twenty such events, we find evidence of a
positive correlation between the duration of the rise and the peak brightness.
On average, SNe II-L tend to have brighter peak magnitudes and longer rise
times than SNe II-P. However, this difference is clearest only at the extreme
ends of the rise time versus peak brightness relation. Using two different
analytical models, we performed a parameter study to investigate the physical
parameters that control the rise time behaviour. In general, the models
qualitatively reproduce aspects of the observed trends. We find that the
brightness of the optical peak increases for larger progenitor radii and
explosion energies, and decreases for larger masses. The dependence of the rise
time on mass and explosion energy is smaller than the dependence on the
progenitor radius. We find no evidence that the progenitors of SNe II-L have
significantly smaller radii than those of SNe II-P.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, accepted by A&
SN 1978K: An evolved supernova outside our Local Group detected at millimetre wavelengths
Supernova 1978K is one of the oldest-known examples of the class of Type IIn supernovae that show evidence for strong interaction between the blast wave and a dense, pre-existing circumstellar medium. Here we report detections of SN 1978K at both 34 GHz and 94 GHz, making it only the third extragalactic supernova (after SN 1987A and SN 1996cr) to be detected at late-times at these frequencies. We find SN 1978K to be >400 times more luminous than SN 1987A at millimetre wavelengths in spite of the roughly nine year difference in ages, highlighting the risk in adopting SN 1987A as a template for the evolution of core-collapse supernovae in general. Additionally, from new VLBI observations at 8.4 GHz, we measure a deconvolved diameter for SN 1978K of ~5 milli-arcsec, and a corresponding average expansion velocity of <1500 km s-1. These observations provide independent evidence of an extremely dense circumstellar medium surrounding the progenitor star
On Type IIn/Ia-CSM supernovae as exemplified by SN 2012ca
We present the complete set of ultra-violet, optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy for SN 2012ca, covering the period from 6 d prior to maximum light, until 531 d after maximum. The spectroscopic time series for SN 2012ca is essentially unchanged over 1.5 yr, and appear to be dominated at all epochs by signatures of interaction with a dense circumstellar medium (CSM) rather than the underlying supernova (SN). SN 2012ca is a member of the set of type of the ambiguous IIn/Ia-CSM SNe, the nature of which have been debated extensively in the literature. The two leading scenarios are either a Type Ia SN exploding within a dense CSM from a non-degenerate, evolved companion, or a core-collapse SN from a massive star. While some members of the population have been unequivocally associated with Type Ia SNe, in other cases the association is less certain. While it is possible that SN 2012ca does arise from a thermonuclear SN, this would require a relatively high (between 20 and 70 per cent) efficiency in converting kinetic energy to optical luminosity, and a massive (∼2.3–2.6 M) circumstellar medium. On the basis of energetics, and the results of simple modelling, we suggest that SN 2012ca is more likely associated with a core-collapse SN. This would imply that the observed set of similar SNe to SN 2012ca is in fact originated by two populations, and while these are drawn from physically distinct channels, they can have observationally similar properties.This work is based on observations collected at the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern hemisphere, Chile as part of PESSTO, (the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects Survey) ESO program 188.D-3003, 191.D-0935. It is also based on observations taken at the Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescope (PROMPT) through the CNTAC proposal CN2012A-103; the Australian National University 2.3m Telescope and the Swift satellite. This work makes use of observations from the LCOGT network. Funded by the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement n° [291222] (SJS). This work was partly supported by the European Union FP7 programme through ERC grant number 320360. SB and AP acknowledge the PRIN-INAF 2011 project ‘Transient Universe: from ESO Large to PESSTO’. Support for GP is provided by the Ministry of Economy, Development, and Tourism's Millennium Science Initiative through grant IC120009, awarded to The Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, MAS. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Oxford Univeristy Pres via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw82
Measuring nickel masses in Type Ia supernovae using cobalt emission in nebular phase spectra
The light curves of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are powered by the
radioactive decay of Ni to Co at early times, and the decay of
Co to Fe from ~60 days after explosion. We examine the evolution
of the [Co III] 5892 A emission complex during the nebular phase for SNe Ia
with multiple nebular spectra and show that the line flux follows the square of
the mass of Co as a function of time. This result indicates both
efficient local energy deposition from positrons produced in Co decay,
and long-term stability of the ionization state of the nebula. We compile 77
nebular spectra of 25 SN Ia from the literature and present 17 new nebular
spectra of 7 SNe Ia, including SN2014J. From these we measure the flux in the
[Co III] 5892 A line and remove its well-behaved time dependence to infer the
initial mass of Ni () produced in the explosion. We then examine
Ni yields for different SN Ia ejected masses ( - calculated
using the relation between light curve width and ejected mass) and find the
Ni masses of SNe Ia fall into two regimes: for narrow light curves (low
stretch s~0.7-0.9), is clustered near ~ 0.4 and
shows a shallow increase as increases from ~1-1.4; at high
stretch, clusters at the Chandrasekhar mass (1.4) while
spans a broad range from 0.6-1.2. This could constitute
evidence for two distinct SN Ia explosion mechanisms.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures (main text), plus data tables in appendix.
Spectra released on WISeREP. Submitted to MNRAS, comments welcom
Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium - IX. SN 2014av, and characterization of Type Ibn SNe
We present spectroscopic and photometric data of the Type Ibn supernova (SN) 2014av, discovered by the Xingming Observatory Sky Survey. Stringent pre-discovery detection limits indicate that the object was detected for the first time about 4 d after the explosion. A prompt follow-up campaign arranged by amateur astronomers allowed us to monitor the rising phase (lasting 10.6 d) and to accurately estimate the epoch of the maximum light, on 2014 April 23 (JD = 245 6771.1 ± 1.2). The absolute magnitude of the SN at the maximum light is MR = −19.76 ± 0.16. The post-peak light curve shows an initial fast decline lasting about three weeks, and is followed by a slower decline in all bands until the end of the monitoring campaign. The spectra are initially characterized by a hot continuum. Later on, the temperature declines and a number of lines become prominent mostly in emission. In particular, later spectra are dominated by strong and narrow emission features of He I typical of Type Ibn supernovae (SNe), although there is a clear signature of lines from heavier elements (in particular O I, Mg II and Ca II). A forest of relatively narrow Fe II lines is also detected showing P-Cygni profiles, with the absorption component blueshifted by about 1200 km s−1. Another spectral feature often observed in interacting SNe, a strong blue pseudo-continuum, is seen in our latest spectra of SN 2014av. We discuss in this paper the physical parameters of SN 2014av in the context of the Type Ibn SN variety
Spectral analysis of four 'hypervariable' AGN: a microneedle in the haystack?
We analyse four extreme active galactic nuclei (AGN) transients to explore the possibility that they are caused by rare, high-amplitude microlensing events. These previously unknown type-I AGN are located in the redshift range 0.6-1.1 and show changes of > 1.5 mag in the g band on a time-scale of similar to years. Multi-epoch optical spectroscopy, from the William Herschel Telescope, shows clear differential variability in the broad line fluxes with respect to the continuum changes and also evolution in the line profiles. In two cases, a simple point-source, point-lens microlensing model provides an excellent match to the long-term variability seen in these objects. For both models, the parameter constraints are consistent with the microlensing being due to an intervening stellar mass object but as yet there is no confirmation of the presence of an intervening galaxy. The models predict a peak amplification of 10.3/13.5 and an Einstein time-scale of 7.5/10.8 yr, respectively. In one case, the data also allow constraints on the size of the C III] emitting region, with some simplifying assumptions, to be similar to 1.0-6.5 light-days and a lower limit on the size of the MgII emitting region to be > 9 light-days (halflight radii). This C III] radius is perhaps surprisingly small. In the remaining two objects, there is spectroscopic evidence for an intervening absorber but the extra structure seen in the light curves requires a more complex lensing scenario to adequately explain
On the diversity of superluminous supernovae: ejected mass as the dominant factor
We assemble a sample of 24 hydrogen-poor super-luminous supernovae (SLSNe).
Parameterizing the light curve shape through rise and decline timescales shows
that the two are highly correlated. Magnetar-powered models can reproduce the
correlation, with the diversity in rise and decline rates driven by the
diffusion timescale. Circumstellar interaction models can exhibit a similar
rise-decline relation, but only for a narrow range of densities, which may be
problematic for these models. We find that SLSNe are approximately 3.5
magnitudes brighter and have light curves 3 times broader than SNe Ibc, but
that the intrinsic shapes are similar. There are a number of SLSNe with
particularly broad light curves, possibly indicating two progenitor channels,
but statistical tests do not cleanly separate two populations. The general
spectral evolution is also presented. Velocities measured from Fe II are
similar for SLSNe and SNe Ibc, suggesting that diffusion time differences are
dominated by mass or opacity. Flat velocity evolution in most SLSNe suggests a
dense shell of ejecta. If opacities in SLSNe are similar to other SNe Ibc, the
average ejected mass is higher by a factor 2-3. Assuming
cmg, we estimate a mean (median) SLSN ejecta mass of
10M (6M), with a range of 3-30M. Doubling
the assumed opacity brings the masses closer to normal SNe Ibc, but with a
high-mass tail. The most probable mechanism for generating SLSNe seems to be
the core-collapse of a very massive hydrogen-poor star, forming a millisecond
magnetar.Comment: 28 pages, 22 figs, 4 tables -- Updated on 2016-01-13 to fix typo in
Table
OGLE-2013-SN-079: A LONELY SUPERNOVA CONSISTENT WITH A HELIUM SHELL DETONATION
We present observational data for a peculiar supernova discovered by the OGLE-IV survey and followed by the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects. The inferred redshift of z = 0.07 implies an absolute magnitude in the rest-frame I-band of MI ~ –17.6 mag. This places it in the luminosity range between normal Type Ia SNe and novae. Optical and near infrared spectroscopy reveal mostly Ti and Ca lines, and an unusually red color arising from strong depression of flux at rest wavelengths <5000 Å. To date, this is the only reported SN showing Ti-dominated spectra. The data are broadly consistent with existing models for the pure detonation of a helium shell around a low-mass CO white dwarf and "double-detonation" models that include a secondary detonation of a CO core following a primary detonation in an overlying helium shell
Dead or Alive? Long-term evolution of SN 2015bh (SNhunt275)
This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Oxford University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw2253Supernova (SN) 2015bh (or SNhunt275) was discovered in NGC 2770 on 2015 February with an absolute magnitude of M ~ −13.4 mag, and was initially classified as an SN impostor. Here, we present the photometric and spectroscopic evolution of SN 2015bh from discovery to late phases (~1 yr after). In addition, we inspect archival images of the host galaxy up to ~21 yr before discovery, finding a burst ~1 yr before discovery, and further signatures of stellar instability until late 2014. Later on, the luminosity of the transient slowly increases, and a broad light-curve peak is reached after about three months. We propose that the transient discovered in early 2015 could be a core-collapse SN explosion. The pre-SN luminosity variability history, the long-lasting rise and faintness first light-curve peak suggests that the progenitor was a very massive, unstable and blue star, which exploded as a faint SN because of severe fallback of material. Later on, the object experiences a sudden brightening of 3 mag, which results from the interaction of the SN ejecta with circumstellar material formed through repeated past mass-loss events. Spectroscopic signatures of interaction are however visible at all epochs. A similar chain of events was previously proposed for the similar interacting SN 2009ip.European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme, Science and Technology Facilities Counci