ASASSN-15no: the Supernova that plays hide-and-seek (original) (raw)
Related papers
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2016
Spectrophotometry of SN 1996al carried out throughout 15 yr is presented. The early photometry suggests that SN 1996al is a linear Type II supernova, with an absolute peak of M V ∼ −18.2 mag. Early spectra present broad asymmetric Balmer emissions, with superimposed narrow lines with P-Cygni profile, and He I features with asymmetric broad emission components. The analysis of the line profiles shows that the H and He broad components form in the same region of the ejecta. By day +142, the Hα profile dramatically changes: the narrow P-Cygni profile disappears, and the Hα is fitted by three emission components that will be detected over the remaining 15 yr of the supernova (SN) monitoring campaign. Instead, the He I emissions become progressively narrower and symmetric. A sudden increase in flux of all He I lines is observed between 300 and 600 d. Models show that the SN luminosity is sustained by the interaction of low-mass (∼1.15 M) ejecta, expelled in a low kinetic energy (∼1.6 × 10 50 erg) explosion, with highly asymmetric circumstellar medium. The detection of Hα emission in pre-explosion archive images suggests that the progenitor was most likely a massive star (∼25 M ZAMS) that had lost a large fraction of its hydrogen envelope before explosion, and was hence embedded in a H-rich cocoon. The low-mass ejecta and modest kinetic energy of the explosion are explained with massive fallback of material into the compact remnant, a 7-8-M black hole.
2016
MSH 15–56 (G326.3-1.8) is a composite supernova remnant (SNR) that consists of an SNR shell and a displaced pulsar wind nebula (PWN) in the radio. We present XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray observations of the remnant that reveal a compact source at the tip of the radio PWN and complex structures that provide evidence for mixing of the supernova (SN) ejecta with PWN material following a reverse shock interaction. The X-ray spectra are well fitted by a non-thermal power-law model whose photon index steepens with distance from the presumed pulsar, and a thermal component with an average temperature of 0.55 keV. The enhanced abundances of silicon and sulfur in some regions, and the similar temperature and ionization timescale, suggest that much of the X-ray emission can be attributed to SN ejecta that have either been heated by the reverse shock or swept up by the PWN. We find one region with a lower temperature of 0.3 keV that appears to be in ionization equilibrium. Assuming the Sedov m...
The Astrophysical Journal, 2015
We present optical observations of supernova SN 2014C, which underwent an unprecedented slow metamorphosis from H-poor type Ib to H-rich type IIn over the course of one year. The observed spectroscopic evolution is consistent with the supernova having exploded in a cavity before encountering a massive shell of the progenitor star's stripped hydrogen envelope. Possible origins for the circumstellar shell include a brief Wolf-Rayet fast wind phase that overtook a slower red supergiant wind, eruptive ejection, or confinement of circumstellar material by external influences of neighboring stars. An extended high velocity Hα absorption feature seen in near-maximum light spectra implies that the progenitor star was not completely stripped of hydrogen at the time of core collapse. Archival pre-explosion Subaru Telescope Suprime-Cam and Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images of the region obtained in 2009 show a coincident source that is most likely a compact massive star cluster in NGC 7331 that hosted the progenitor system. By comparing the emission properties of the source with stellar population models that incorporate interacting binary stars we estimate the age of the host cluster to be 30−300 Myr, and favor ages closer to 30 Myr in light of relatively strong Hα emission. SN 2014C is the best-observed member of a class of core-collapse supernovae that fill the gap between events that interact strongly with dense, nearby environments immediately after explosion and those that never show signs of interaction. Better understanding of the frequency and nature of this intermediate population can contribute valuable information about the poorly understood final stages of stellar evolution.
Astrophysical Journal, 2006
We present the spectral evolution, light curve, and corresponding interpretation for the "normal-bright" Type Ia Supernova 2005cg discovered by ROTSE-IIIc. The host is a low-luminosity (M_r = -16.75), blue galaxy with strong indications of active star formation and an environment similar to that expected for SNe Ia at high redshifts. Early-time (t ~ -10 days) optical spectra obtained with the HET reveal an asymmetric, triangular-shaped Si II absorption feature at about 6100 \AA with a sharp transition to the continuum at a blue shift of about 24,000 km s^-1. By 4 days before maximum, the Si II absorption feature becomes symmetric with smoothly curved sides. Similar Si II profile evolution has previously been observed in other supernovae, and is predicted by some explosion models, but its significance has not been fully recognized. Although the spectra predicted by pure deflagration and delayed detonation models are similar near maximum light, they predict qualitatively different chemical abundances in the outer layers and thus give qualitatively different spectra at the earliest phases. The Si line observed in SN 2005cg at early times requires the presence of burning products at high velocities and the triangular shape is likely to be formed in an extended region of slowly declining Si abundance that characterizes delayed detonation models. The spectra show a high-velocity Ca II IR feature that coincides in velocity space with the Si II cutoff. This supports the interpretation that the Ca II is formed when the outer layers of the SN ejecta sweep up about 5 x 10^-3 M_sun of material within the progenitor system. (Abridged)
We present the spectral evolution, light curve, and corresponding interpretation for the "normal-bright" Type Ia Supernova 2005cg discovered by ROTSE-IIIc. The host is a low-luminosity (M r = −16.75), blue galaxy with strong indications of active star formation and an environment similar to that expected for SNe Ia at high redshifts. Early-time (t ∼ −10 days) optical spectra obtained with the HET reveal an asymmetric, triangularshaped Si II absorption feature at about 6100 Å with a sharp transition to the continuum at a blue shift of about 24,000 km s −1 . By 4 days before maximum, the Si II absorption feature becomes symmetric with smoothly curved sides. Similar Si II profile evolution has previously been observed in other supernovae, and is predicted by some explosion models, but its significance has not been fully recognized. Although the spectra predicted by pure deflagration and delayed detonation models are similar near maximum light, they predict qualitatively different chemical abundances in the outer layers and thus give qualitatively different spectra at the earliest phases. The Si line observed in SN 2005cg at early times requires the presence of burning products at high velocities and the triangular shape is likely to be formed in an extended region of slowly declining Si abundance that characterizes delayed detonation models. The spectra show a high-velocity Ca II IR feature that coincides in velocity space with the Si II cutoff. This supports the interpretation that the Ca II is formed when the outer layers of the SN ejecta sweep up about 5 × 10 −3 M ⊙ of material within the progenitor system. We compare our results with other "Branch-normal" SNe Ia with early time spectra, namely SN 2003du, 1999ee and 1994D. Although the expansion velocities based on their Si II absorption minima differ, all show triangular-shaped profiles and velocity cutoffs between 23,000 and 25,000 km s −1 , which are consistent with the Doppler shifts of their respective high-velocity Ca II IR features. SN 1990N-like objects, however, showed distinctly different behavior that may suggest separate progenitor sub-classes.
10 51 Ergs: The Evolution of Shell Supernova Remnants
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 1998
This paper reports on the workshop, 10 51 Ergs: The Evolution of Shell Supernova Remnants, hosted by the University of Minnesota, March 23-26, 1997. The workshop was designed to address fundamental dynamical issues associated with the evolution of shell supernova remnants and to understand better the relationships between supernova remnants and their environments. Although the title points only to classical, shell SNR structures, the workshop also considered dynamical issues involving X-ray filled composite remnants and pulsar driven shells, such as that in the Crab Nebula. Approximately 75 observers, theorists and numerical simulators with wide ranging interests attended the workshop. An even larger community helped through extensive on-line debates prior to the meeting to focus issues and galvanize discussion.
The Astrophysical Journal, 2008
SN 2006tf is the third most luminous supernova (SN) discovered so far, after SN 2005ap and SN 2006gy. SN 2006tf is valuable because it provides a link between two regimes: (1) luminous type IIn supernovae powered by emission directly from interaction with circumstellar material (CSM), and (2) the most extremely luminous SNe where the CSM interaction is so optically thick that energy must diffuse out from an opaque shocked shell. As SN 2006tf evolves, it slowly transitions from the second to the first regime as the clumpy shell becomes more porous. This link suggests that the range in properties of the most luminous SNe is largely determined by the density and speed of hydrogen-rich material ejected shortly before they explode. The total energy radiated by SN 2006tf was at least 7 × 10 50 ergs. If the bulk of this luminosity came from the thermalization of shock kinetic energy, then the star needs to have ejected ∼18 M ⊙ in the 4-8 yr before core collapse, and another 2-6 M ⊙ in the decades before that. A Type Ia explosion is therefore excluded. From the Hα emission-line profile, we derive a blast-wave speed of 2,000 km s −1 that does not decelerate, and from the narrow P Cygni absorption from pre-shock gas we deduce that the progenitor's wind speed was ∼190 km s −1. This is reminiscent of the wind speeds of luminous blue variables (LBVs), but not of red supergiants or Wolf-Rayet stars. We propose that like SN 2006gy, SN 2006tf marked the death of a very massive star that retained a hydrogen envelope until the end of its life, and suffered extreme LBV-like mass loss in the decades before it exploded.
SN 2017dio: A Type-Ic Supernova Exploding in a Hydrogen-rich Circumstellar Medium
The Astrophysical Journal, 2018
SN 2017dio shows both spectral characteristics of a type-Ic supernova (SN) and signs of a hydrogen-rich circumstellar medium (CSM). Prominent, narrow emission lines of H and He are superposed on the continuum. Subsequent evolution revealed that the SN ejecta are interacting with the CSM. The initial SN Ic identification was confirmed by removing the CSM interaction component from the spectrum and comparing with known SNe Ic, and reversely, adding a CSM interaction component to the spectra of known SNe Ic and comparing them to SN 2017dio. Excellent agreement was obtained with both procedures, reinforcing the SN Ic classification. The light curve constrains the pre-interaction SN Ic peak absolute magnitude to be around M g = −17.6 mag. No evidence of significant extinction is found, ruling out a brighter luminosity required by a SN Ia classification. These pieces of evidence support the view that SN 2017dio is a SN Ic, and therefore the first firm case of a SN Ic with signatures of hydrogen-rich CSM in the early spectrum. The CSM is unlikely to have been shaped by steady-state stellar winds. The mass loss of the progenitor star must have been intense,Ṁ ∼ 0.02 (ǫ Hα /0.01) −1 (v wind /500 km s −1) (v shock /10000 km s −1) −3 M ⊙ yr −1 , peaking at a few decades before the SN. Such a high mass loss rate might have been experienced by the progenitor through eruptions or binary stripping.
The Type IIn supernova 1994W: evidence for the explosive ejection of a circumstellar envelope
Monthly Notices of The Royal Astronomical Society, 2004
We present and analyse spectra of the Type IIn supernova 1994W obtained between 18 and 203 days after explosion. During the luminous phase (first 100 d) the line profiles are composed of three major components: (i) narrow P-Cygni lines with the absorption minima at -700 km/s; (ii) broad emission lines with BVZI ~4000 km/s; and (iii) broad, smooth wings, most apparent in H-alpha. These components are identified with an expanding circumstellar (CS) envelope, shocked cool gas in the forward post-shock region, and multiple Thomson scattering in the CS envelope, respectively. The absence of broad P-Cygni lines from the supernova is the result of the formation of an optically thick, cool, dense shell at the interface of the ejecta and the CS envelope. We model the supernova deceleration and Thomson scattering wings to recover the density, radial extent and Thomson optical depth of the CS envelope during the first month. We reproduce the light curve with a hydrodynamical model and find it to be powered by a combination of internal energy leakage after the explosion of an extended pre-supernova (~10^15 cm) and luminosity from circumstellar interaction. We recover the pre-explosion kinematics of the CS envelope: it is close to homologous expansion with outer velocity ~1100 km/s and a kinematic age of ~1.5 yr. The CS envelope's high mass and kinetic energy, combined with its small age, strongly suggest that the CS envelope was explosively ejected about 1.5 yr before the supernova explosion.
The supernova CSS121015:004244+132827: a clue for understanding superluminous supernovae
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2014
We present optical photometry and spectra of the superluminous Type II/IIn supernova (SN) CSS121015:004244+132827 (z = 0.2868) spanning epochs from −30 d (rest frame) to more than 200 d after maximum. CSS121015 is one of the more luminous SNe ever found and one of the best observed. The photometric evolution is characterized by a relatively fast rise to maximum (∼40 d in the SN rest frame), and by a linear post-maximum decline. The light curve shows no sign of a break to an exponential tail. A broad Hα is first detected at ∼+40 d (rest frame). Narrow, barely resolved Balmer and [O III] 5007 Å lines, with decreasing strength, are visible along the entire spectral evolution. The spectra are very similar to other superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) with hydrogen in their spectrum, and also to SN 2005gj, sometimes considered Type Ia interacting with H-rich circumstellar medium. The spectra are also similar to a subsample of H-deficient SLSNe. We propose that the properties of CSS121015 are consistent with the interaction of the ejecta with a massive, extended, opaque shell, lost by the progenitor decades before the final explosion, although a magnetar-powered model cannot be excluded. Based on the similarity of CSS121015 with other SLSNe (with and without H), we suggest that the shocked-shell scenario should be seriously considered as a plausible model for both types of SLSN.