No Arabic abstract
High cadence ultraviolet, optical and near-infrared photometric and low-resolution spectroscopic observations of the peculiar Type II supernova (SN) 2018hna are presented. The early phase multiband light curves exhibit the adiabatic cooling envelope emission following the shock breakout up to ~14 days from the explosion. SN~2018hna has a rise time of $sim$,88 days in the V-band, similar to SN 1987A. A $rm^{56}Ni$ mass of ~0.087$pm$0.004 $rm M_{odot}$ is inferred for SN 2018hna from its bolometric light curve. Hydrodynamical modelling of the cooling phase suggests a progenitor with a radius ~50 $rm R_{odot}$, a mass of ~14-20 $rm M_{odot}$ and explosion energy of ~1.7-2.9$rm times$ $rm 10^{51} erg$. The smaller inferred radius of the progenitor than a standard red supergiant is indicative of a blue supergiant progenitor of SN 2018hna. A sub-solar metallicity (~0.3 $rm Z_{odot}$) is inferred for the host galaxy UGC 07534, concurrent with the low-metallicity environments of 1987A-like events.
We present extensive ultraviolet (UV) and optical photometry, as well as dense optical spectroscopy for type II Plateau (IIP) supernova SN 2016X that exploded in the nearby ($sim$ 15 Mpc) spiral galaxy UGC 08041. The observations span the period from 2 to 180 days after the explosion; in particular, the Swift UV data probably captured the signature of shock breakout associated with the explosion of SN 2016X. It shows very strong UV emission during the first week after explosion, with contribution of $sim$ 20 -- 30% to the bolometric luminosity (versus $lesssim$ 15% for normal SNe IIP). Moreover, we found that this supernova has an unusually long rise time of about 12.6 $pm$ 0.5 days in the $R$ band (versus $sim$ 7.0 days for typical SNe IIP). The optical light curves and spectral evolution are quite similar to the fast-declining type IIP object SN 2013ej, except that SN 2016X has a relatively brighter tail. Based on the evolution of photospheric temperature as inferred from the $Swift$ data in the early phase, we derive that the progenitor of SN 2016X has a radius of about 930 $pm$ 70 R$_{odot}$. This large-size star is expected to be a red supergiant star with an initial mass of $gtrsim$ 19 -- 20 M$_{odot}$ based on the mass $--$ radius relation of the Galactic red supergiants, and it represents one of the most largest and massive progenitors found for SNe IIP.
We present visible-light and ultraviolet (UV) observations of the supernova PTF12glz. The SN was discovered and monitored in near-UV and R bands as part of a joint GALEX and Palomar Transient Factory campaign. It is among the most energetic Type IIn supernovae observed to date (~10^{51} erg). If the radiated energy mainly came from the thermalization of the shock kinetic energy, we show that PTF12glz was surrounded by ~1 solar mass of circumstellar material (CSM) prior to its explosive death. PTF12glz shows a puzzling peculiarity: at early times, while the freely expanding ejecta are presumably masked by the optically thick CSM, the radius of the blackbody that best fits the observations grows at ~7000 km/s. Such a velocity is characteristic of fast moving ejecta rather than optically thick CSM. This phase of radial expansion takes place before any spectroscopic signature of expanding ejecta appears in the spectrum and while both the spectroscopic data and the bolometric luminosity seem to indicate that the CSM is optically thick. We propose a geometrical solution to this puzzle, involving an aspherical structure of the CSM around PTF12glz. By modelling radiative diffusion through a slab of CSM, we show that an aspherical geometry of the CSM can result in a growing effective radius. This simple model also allows us to recover the decreasing blackbody temperature of PTF12glz. SLAB-Diffusion, the code we wrote to model the radiative diffusion of photons through a slab of CSM and evaluate the observed radius and temperature, is made available on-line.
The mode of explosive burning in Type Ia SNe remains an outstanding problem. It is generally thought to begin as a subsonic deflagration, but this may transition into a supersonic detonation (the DDT). We argue that this transition leads to a breakout shock, which would provide the first unambiguous evidence that DDTs occur. Its main features are a hard X-ray flash (~20 keV) lasting ~0.01 s with a total radiated energy of ~10^{40} ergs, followed by a cooling tail. This creates a distinct feature in the visual light curve, which is separate from the nickel decay. This cooling tail has a maximum absolute visual magnitude of M_V = -9 to -10 at approximately 1 day, which depends most sensitively on the white dwarf radius at the time of the DDT. As the thermal diffusion wave moves in, the composition of these surface layers may be imprinted as spectral features, which would help to discern between SN Ia progenitor models. Since this feature should accompany every SNe Ia, future deep surveys (e.g., m=24) will see it out to a distance of approximately 80 Mpc, giving a maximum rate of ~60/yr. Archival data sets can also be used to study the early rise dictated by the shock heating (at about 20 days before maximum B-band light). A similar and slightly brighter event may also accompany core bounce during the accretion induced collapse to a neutron star, but with a lower occurrence rate.
We have acquired Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Very Large Telescope near-infrared spectra and images of supernova (SN) Refsdal after its discovery as an Einstein cross in Fall 2014. The HST light curve of SN Refsdal matches the distinctive, slowly rising light curves of SN 1987A-like supernovae (SNe), and we find strong evidence for a broad H-alpha P-Cygni profile in the HST grism spectrum at the redshift (z = 1.49) of the spiral host galaxy. SNe IIn, powered by circumstellar interaction, could provide a good match to the light curve of SN Refsdal, but the spectrum of a SN IIn would not show broad and strong H-alpha absorption. From the grism spectrum, we measure an H-alpha expansion velocity consistent with those of SN 1987A-like SNe at a similar phase. The luminosity, evolution, and Gaussian profile of the H-alpha emission of the WFC3 and X-shooter spectra, separated by ~2.5 months in the rest frame, provide additional evidence that supports the SN 1987A-like classification. In comparison with other examples of SN 1987A-like SNe, SN Refsdal has a blue B-V color and a high luminosity for the assumed range of potential magnifications. If SN Refsdal can be modeled as a scaled version of SN 1987A, we estimate it would have an ejecta mass of 20+-5 solar masses. The evolution of the light curve at late times will provide additional evidence about the potential existence of any substantial circumstellar material (CSM). Using MOSFIRE and X-shooter spectra, we estimate a subsolar host-galaxy metallicity (8.3+-0.1 dex and <8.4 dex, respectively) near the explosion site.
Astrophysical shocks at all scales, from those in the heliosphere up to the cosmological shock waves, are typically collisionless, because the thickness of their jump region is much shorter than the collisional mean free path. Across these jumps, electrons, protons, and ions are expected to be heated at different temperatures. Supernova remnants (SNRs) are ideal targets to study collisionless processes because of their bright post-shock emission and fast shocks. Although optical observations of Balmer-dominated shocks in young SNRs showed that the post-shock proton temperature is higher than the electron temperature, the actual dependence of the post-shock temperature on the particle mass is still widely debated. We tackle this longstanding issue through the analysis of deep multi-epoch and high-resolution observations of the youngest nearby supernova remnant, SN 1987A, made with the Chandra X-ray telescope. We introduce a novel data analysis method by studying the observed spectra in close comparison with a dedicated full 3-D hydrodynamic simulation. The simulation is able to reproduce self-consistently the whole broadening of the spectral lines of many ions altogether. We can therefore measure the post shock temperature of protons and selected ions through comparison of the model with observations. We have obtained information about the heating processes in collisional shocks by finding that the ion to proton temperature ratio is always significantly higher than one and increases linearly with the ion mass for a wide range of masses and shock parameters.