No Arabic abstract
We present observations of the interacting transient SN 2009ip, from the start of the outburst in October 2012 until the end of the 2012 observing season. The transient reached a peak of $M_V$=-17.7 mag before fading rapidly, with a total integrated luminosity of 1.9$times10^{49}$ erg over the period of August-December 2012. The optical and near infrared spectra are dominated by narrow emission lines, signaling a dense circumstellar environment, together with multiple components of broad emission and absorption in H and He at velocities between 0.5-1.2$times10^4$ km s$^{-1}$. We see no evidence for nucleosynthesized material in SN 2009ip, even in late-time pseudo-nebular spectra. We set a limit of $<$0.02 M$_{odot}$ on the mass of any synthesized $^{56}$Ni from the late time lightcurve. A simple model for the narrow Balmer lines is presented, and used to derive number densities for the circumstellar medium of between $sim 10^{9}-10^{10}$ cm$^{-3}$. Our near-infrared data does not show any excess at longer wavelengths. Our last data, taken in December 2012, shows that SN 2009ip has spectroscopically evolved to something quite similar to its appearance in late 2009, albeit with higher velocities. It is possible that neither of the eruptive and high luminosity events of SN 2009ip were induced by a core-collapse. We show that the peak and total integrated luminosity can be due to the efficient conversion of kinetic energy from colliding ejecta, and that around 0.05-0.1 M$_{odot}$ of material moving at 0.5-1$times10^4$ km s$^{-1}$ could comfortably produce the observed luminosity. The ejection of multiple shells, lack of evidence for nucleosynthesied elements and broad nebular lines, are all consistent with the pulsational-pair instability scenario. In this case the progenitor star may still exist, and will be observed after the current outburst fades.
We report optical and near-infrared observations of SN 2012ca with the Public ESO Spectroscopy Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO), spread over one year since discovery. The supernova (SN) bears many similarities to SN 1997cy and to other events classified as Type IIn but which have been suggested to have a thermonuclear origin with narrow hydrogen lines produced when the ejecta impact a hydrogen-rich circumstellar medium (CSM). Our analysis, especially in the nebular phase, reveals the presence of oxygen, magnesium and carbon features. This suggests a core collapse explanation for SN2012ca, in contrast to the thermonuclear interpretation proposed for some members of this group. We suggest that the data can be explained with a hydrogen and helium deficient SN ejecta (Type I) interacting with a hydrogen-rich CSM, but that the explosion was more likely a Type Ic core-collapse explosion than a Type Ia thermonuclear one. This suggests two channels (both thermonuclear and stripped envelope core-collapse) may be responsible for these SN 1997cy-like events.
We present a new, detailed analysis of late-time mid-infrared (IR) observations of the Type II-P supernova (SN) 2003gd. At about 16 months after the explosion, the mid-IR flux is consistent with emission from 4 x 10^(-5) M(solar) of newly condensed dust in the ejecta. At 22 months emission from point-like sources close to the SN position was detected at 8 microns and 24 microns. By 42 months the 24 micron flux had faded. Considerations of luminosity and source size rule out the ejecta of SN 2003gd as the main origin of the emission at 22 months. A possible alternative explanation for the emission at this later epoch is an IR echo from pre-existing circumstellar or interstellar dust. We conclude that, contrary to the claim of Sugerman et al. (2006, Science, 313, 196), the mid-IR emission from SN 2003gd does not support the presence of 0.02 M(solar) of newly formed dust in the ejecta. There is, as yet, no direct evidence that core-collapse supernovae are major dust factories.
We present optical and near-IR spectroscopic observations of the luminous blue variable SN 2009ip during its remarkable photometric evolution of 2012. The spectra sample three key points in the SN 2009ip lightcurve, corresponding to its initial brightening in August (2012-A) and its dramatic rebrightening in early October (2012-B). Based on line fluxes and velocities measured in our spectra, we find a surprisingly low I(H-alpha)/I(H-beta) ~ 1.3-1.4 in the 2012-B spectra. Such a ratio implies either a rare Case B recombination scenario where H-alpha, but not H-beta, is optically thick, or an extremely high density for the circumstellar material of n_e > 10^13 cm^(-3) The H-alpha line intensity yields a minimum radiating surface area of >~20,000 AU^2 in H-alpha at the peak of SN 2009ips photometric evolution. Combined with the nature of this objects spectral evolution in 2012, a high circumstellar density and large radiating surface area imply the presence of a thin disk geometry around the central star (and, consequently, a possible binary companion), suggesting that the observed 2012-B rebrightening of SN 2009ip can be attributed to the illumination of the disks inner rim by fast-moving ejecta produced by the underlying events of 2012-A.
We report the results of a 3 year-long dedicated monitoring campaign of a restless Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) in NGC 7259. The object, named SN 2009ip, was observed photometrically and spectroscopically in the optical and near-infrared domains. We monitored a number of erupting episodes in the past few years, and increased the density of our observations during eruptive episodes. In this paper we present the full historical data set from 2009-2012 with multi-wavelength dense coverage of the two high luminosity events between August - September 2012. We construct bolometric light curves and measure the total luminosities of these eruptive or explosive events. We label them the 2012a event (lasting ~50 days) with a peak of 3x10^41 erg/s, and the 2012b event (14 day rise time, still ongoing) with a peak of 8x10^42 erg/s. The latter event reached an absolute R-band magnitude of about -18, comparable to that of a core-collapse supernova (SN). Our historical monitoring has detected high-velocity spectral features (~13000 km/s) in September 2011, one year before the current SN-like event. This implies that the detection of such high velocity outflows cannot, conclusively, point to a core-collapse SN origin. We suggest that the initial peak in the 2012a event was unlikely to be due to a faint core-collapse SN. We propose that the high intrinsic luminosity of the latest peak, the variability history of SN 2009ip, and the detection of broad spectral lines indicative of high-velocity ejecta are consistent with a pulsational pair-instability event, and that the star may have survived the last outburst. The question of the survival of the LBV progenitor star and its future fate remain open issues, only to be answered with future monitoring of this historically unique explosion.
We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the interacting transient SN 2009ip taken during the 2013 and 2014 observing seasons. We characterise the photometric evolution as a steady and smooth decline in all bands, with a decline rate that is slower than expected for a solely $^{56}$Co-powered supernova at late phases. No further outbursts or eruptions were seen over a two year period from 2012 December until 2014 December. SN 2009ip remains brighter than its historic minimum from pre-discovery images. Spectroscopically, SN 2009ip continues to be dominated by strong, narrow ($lesssim$2000 km~s$^{-1}$) emission lines of H, He, Ca, and Fe. While we make tenuous detections of [Fe~{sc ii}] $lambda$7155 and [O~{sc i}] $lambdalambda$6300,6364 lines at the end of 2013 June and the start of 2013 October respectively, we see no strong broad nebular emission lines that could point to a core-collapse origin. In general, the lines appear relatively symmetric, with the exception of our final spectrum in 2014 May, when we observe the appearance of a redshifted shoulder of emission at +550 km~s$^{-1}$. The lines are not blue-shifted, and we see no significant near- or mid-infrared excess. From the spectroscopic and photometric evolution of SN 2009ip until 820 days after the start of the 2012a event, we still see no conclusive evidence for core-collapse, although whether any such signs could be masked by ongoing interaction is unclear.