No Arabic abstract
Early observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) provide a unique probe of their progenitor systems and explosion physics. Here we report the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) discovery of an extraordinarily young SN Ia, iPTF 16abc. By fitting a power law to our early light curve, we infer that first light for the SN, that is when the SN could have first been detected by our survey, occurred only $0.15pm_{0.07}^{0.15}$ days before our first detection. In the $sim$24 hr after discovery, iPTF 16abc rose by $sim$2 mag, featuring a near-linear rise in flux for $gtrsim$3 days. Early spectra show strong C II absorption, which disappears after $sim$7 days. Unlike the extensivelyobserved SN Ia SN 2011fe, the $(B-V)_0$ colors of iPTF 16abc are blue and nearly constant in the days after explosion. We show that our early observations of iPTF 16abc cannot be explained by either SN shock breakout and the associated, subsequent cooling or the SN ejecta colliding with a stellar companion. Instead, we argue that the early characteristics of iPTF 16abc, including (i) the rapid, near-linear rise, (ii) the nonevolving blue colors, and (iii) the strong C II absorption, are the result of either ejecta interaction with nearby, unbound material or vigorous mixing of radioactive $^{56}$Ni in the SN ejecta, or a combination of the two. In the next few years, dozens of very young textit{normal} SNe Ia will be discovered, and observations similar to those presented here will constrain the white dwarf explosion mechanism.
We present photometry and time-series spectroscopy of the nearby type Ia supernova (SN Ia) SN 2015F over $-16$ days to $+80$ days relative to maximum light, obtained as part of the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO). SN 2015F is a slightly sub-luminous SN Ia with a decline rate of $Delta m15(B)=1.35 pm 0.03$ mag, placing it in the region between normal and SN 1991bg-like events. Our densely-sampled photometric data place tight constraints on the epoch of first light and form of the early-time light curve. The spectra exhibit photospheric C II $lambda 6580$ absorption until $-4$ days, and high-velocity Ca II is particularly strong at $<-10$ days at expansion velocities of $simeq$23000kms. At early times, our spectral modelling with syn++ shows strong evidence for iron-peak elements (Fe II, Cr II, Ti II, and V II) expanding at velocities $>14000$ km s$^{-1}$, suggesting mixing in the outermost layers of the SN ejecta. Although unusual in SN Ia spectra, including V II in the modelling significantly improves the spectral fits. Intriguingly, we detect an absorption feature at $sim$6800 AA that persists until maximum light. Our favoured explanation for this line is photospheric Al II, which has never been claimed before in SNe Ia, although detached high-velocity C II material could also be responsible. In both cases the absorbing material seems to be confined to a relatively narrow region in velocity space. The nucleosynthesis of detectable amounts of Al II would argue against a low-metallicity white dwarf progenitor. We also show that this 6800 AA feature is weakly present in other normal SN Ia events, and common in the SN 1991bg-like sub-class.
We present early phase observations in optical and near-infrared wavelengths for the extremely luminous Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2009dc. The decline rate of the light curve is $Delta m_{15}(B)=0.65pm 0.03$, which is one of the slowest among SNe Ia. The peak $V$-band absolute magnitude is $M_{V}=-19.90pm 0.15$ mag even if the host extinction is $A_{V}=0$ mag. It reaches $M_{V}=-20.19pm 0.19$ mag for the host extinction of $A_{V}=0.29$ mag as inferred from the observed Na {sc i} D line absorption in the host. Our $JHK_{s}$-band photometry shows that the SN is one of the most luminous SNe Ia also in near-infrared wavelengths. These results indicate that SN 2009dc belongs to the most luminous class of SNe Ia, like SN 2003fg and SN 2006gz. We estimate the ejected $^{56}$Ni mass of $1.2pm 0.3$ $Msun$ for no host extinction case (or 1.6$pm$ 0.4 M$_{odot}$ for the host extinction of $A_{V}=0.29$ mag). The C {sc ii} $lambda$6580 absorption line keeps visible until a week after maximum, which diminished in SN 2006gz before its maximum brightness. The line velocity of Si {sc ii} $lambda$6355 is about 8000 km s$^{-1}$ around the maximum, being considerably slower than that of SN 2006gz, while comparable to that of SN 2003fg. The velocity of the C {sc ii} line is almost comparable to that of the Si {sc ii}. The presence of the carbon line suggests that thick unburned C+O layers remain after the explosion. SN 2009dc is a plausible candidate of the super-Chandrasekhar mass SNe Ia.
The non-detection of companion stars in Type Ia supernova (SN) progenitor systems lends support to the notion of double-degenerate (DD) systems and explosions triggered by the merging of two white dwarfs. This very asymmetric process should lead to a conspicuous polarimetric signature. By contrast, observations consistently find very low continuum polarization as the signatures from the explosion process largely dominate over the pre-explosion configuration within several days. Critical information about the interaction of the ejecta with a companion and any circumstellar matter is encoded in the early polarization spectra. In this study, we obtain spectropolarimetry of SN,2018gv with the ESO Very Large Telescope at $-$13.6 days relative to the $B-$band maximum light, or $sim$5 days after the estimated explosion --- the earliest spectropolarimetric observations to date of any Type Ia SN. These early observations still show a low continuum polarization ($lesssim$0.2%) and moderate line polarization (0.30$pm$0.04% for the prominent ion{Si}{2} $lambda$6355 feature and 0.85$pm$0.04% for the high-velocity Ca component). The high degree of spherical symmetry implied by the low line and continuum polarization at this early epoch is consistent with explosion models of delayed detonations and is inconsistent with the merger-induced explosion scenario. The dense UV and optical photometry and optical spectroscopy within the first $sim$100 days after the maximum light indicate that SN,2018gv is a normal Type Ia SN with similar spectrophotometric behavior to SN,2011fe.
We present photospheric-phase observations of LSQ12gdj, a slowly-declining, UV-bright Type Ia supernova. Classified well before maximum light, LSQ12gdj has extinction-corrected absolute magnitude $M_B = -19.8$, and pre-maximum spectroscopic evolution similar to SN 1991T and the super-Chandrasekhar-mass SN 2007if. We use ultraviolet photometry from Swift, ground-based optical photometry, and corrections from a near-infrared photometric template to construct the bolometric (1600-23800 AA) light curve out to 45 days past $B$-band maximum light. We estimate that LSQ12gdj produced $0.96 pm 0.07$ $M_odot$ of $^{56}$Ni, with an ejected mass near or slightly above the Chandrasekhar mass. As much as 27% of the flux at the earliest observed phases, and 17% at maximum light, is emitted bluewards of 3300 AA. The absence of excess luminosity at late times, the cutoff of the spectral energy distribution bluewards of 3000 AA, and the absence of narrow line emission and strong Na I D absorption all argue against a significant contribution from ongoing shock interaction. However, up to 10% of LSQ12gdjs luminosity near maximum light could be produced by the release of trapped radiation, including kinetic energy thermalized during a brief interaction with a compact, hydrogen-poor envelope (radius $< 10^{13}$ cm) shortly after explosion; such an envelope arises generically in double-degenerate merger scenarios.
We present extensive, well-sampled optical and ultraviolet photometry and optical spectra of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2017hpa. The light curves indicate that SN 2017hpa is a normal SN Ia with an absolute peak magnitude of $M_{rm max}^{B} approx$ -19.12$pm$0.11 mag and a post-peak decline rate mb = 1.02$pm$0.07 mag. According to the quasibolometric light curve, we derive a peak luminosity of 1.25$times$10$^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and a $^{56}$Ni mass of 0.63$pm$0.02 $M_{odot}$. The spectral evolution of SN 2017hpa is similar to that of normal SNe Ia, while it exhibits unusually rapid velocity evolution resembling that of SN 1991bg-like SNe Ia or the high-velocity subclass of SNe Ia, with a post-peak velocity gradient of $sim$ 130$pm$7 km s$^{-1}$ d$^{-1}$. Moreover, its early spectra ($t < -7.9$ d) show prominent CII~$lambda$6580 absorption feature, which disappeared in near-maximum-light spectra but reemerged at phases from $t sim +8.7$ d to $t sim +11.7$ d after maximum light. This implies that some unburned carbon may mix deep into the inner layer, and is supported by the low CII~$lambda$6580 to SiII~$lambda$6355 velocity ratio ($sim 0.81$) observed in SN 2017hpa. The OI~$lambda$7774 line shows a velocity distribution like that of carbon. The prominent carbon feature, low velocity seen in carbon and oxygen, and large velocity gradient make SN 2017hpa stand out from other normal SNe Ia, and are more consistent with predictions from a violent merger of two white dwarfs. Detailed modelling is still needed to reveal the nature of SN 2017hpa.