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We have designed, built, and are successfully using a completely robotic supernova search, with an automated observatory and automated real-time analysis and scheduling. This system has detected 20 supernovae so far, resulting in early supernova observations, surprising supernova rates, and new evidence against a true 'inclination effect' in galaxies.
We present explicit evaluation of K-shell ionization caused by photoelectric absorption, by Compton scattering, and by electron collisions in supernovae envelopes. Each process derives from the radioactivity that dominates the bolometric luminosity of the model supernovae. We include the ionization by bremsstrahlung. We find that electron-collision ionization with decelerating Compton electrons is the dominant process of K-shell ionization for light elements (lighter than Si) whereas photoelectric K-shell absorption of Comptonized gammas is the dominant process of K-shell ionization for heavy elements (like Fe). The relative importance of the ionization processes also depends upon composition and upon time, as well as upon supernova type. For Type Ia all four ionization sources are of importance. We present fitting formulas for the deposition of radioactive power in each class of models studied. The energy deposition of all mechanisms decreases with time, including the rate of K-shell ionizations of all elements throughout the supernovae model evaluated herein. We compare the relative contributions to the energy deposition and confirm with greater numerical detail results already established.
This paper describes a study of the Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT) Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) observation of the spiral galaxy NGC 6946 to search for x-ray emission from the six historical supernovae that have occurred in that galaxy. At the age of these supernovae, all could be emitting x rays due to circumstellar interactions. Supernova (SN) 1980K may be present based upon the hardness ratio and the coincidence of an x-ray source with the optical position. Its luminosity agrees with a recent prediction by Chevalier & Fransson. The situation for SN 1968D, apparently recovered in Very Large Array (VLA) data, is less clear due to source confusion, but suggests SN 1968D has not been recovered. Only upper limits are available for the remaining four supernovae that have occurred in this galaxy.
We have obtained velocity fields of the Giant H II complexes NGC 5471 in M101, NGC 2363 in NGC 2366, and the largest H II region in NGC 2403 from H-alpha observations using the TAURUS imaging Fabry-Perot interferometer. We have detected five H-alpha sources with velocity profiles which are broad when compared with the surrounding H II region. Region B in NGC 5471 has been previously determined to contain a supernova remnant by the presence of nonthermal radio continuum radiation and enhanced (O I) and (S II) emission (Skillman 1985) and broad H-alpha emission (Chu & Kennicutt 1986). Two broad H-alpha sources in NGC 2363 coincide with regions where strong splitting has been found in the (O III) line (Roy et al. 1991). Two more broad H-alpha sources have been identified in the largest H II region in NGC 2403. Very Large Array (VLA) radio continuum observations with a resolution of 2 sec at lambda(6) and lambda(20) cm of all 3 H II complexes are presented. In addition, high resolution (subarcsecond) VLA images of NGC 5471 were made at lambda(2) and lambda(6) cm. The presence of a nonthermal source in region NGC 5471 B was confirmed while region NGC 5471 A appears to be dominated by thermal emission. The nonthermal spectral index in NGC 2363 A indicates the existence of none or more supernova remnants at the position of a large velocity width source detected in H-alpha emission. No similar nonthermal sources were detected in NGC 2403 #1. Supernovae explosions and stellar winds are considered as causes for these large velocity width sources (LVWS). If the emission from the LVWSs is attributed to single supernova remnants, they are unusually luminous in both nonthermal radio continuum and H-alpha emision. The very large H-alpha luminosities could be a result of high velocity gas being ionized by the neighboring stellar cluster.
We have obtained an 8.4 GHz Very Large Array (VLA) A-array map of the starburst galaxy M82 with a resolution Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) approximately 0.182 sec. About 50 compact radio sources in the central region of M82 were detected with a peak surface brightness approximately greater than 10(exp -17) W/Hz/sq m/sr. Comparison with previous observations shows that most sources are declining in flux. Three previously visible sources have faded into the background of our map (approximately less than 0.2 mJy/beam), while a few sources, including the second and third brightest radio sources in M82, may have increased slightly in flux over the last decade. No new radio supernova was found. The birth rate of the compact radio sources is estimated to be 0.11 + or - 0.05/yr. We attribute the population of such bright, small supernova remnants (SNRs) in M82 to the high pressure in the central region that can truncate the mass loss during a red supergiant phase or allow dense ionized clouds to be present. The compact radio sources obey a Sigma(radio surface brightness) - D(diameter) relation which is remarkably similar to that followed by supernova remnants in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds and by two of the strongest known extragalactic radio supernovae: SN 1986J and SN 1979C. A least-squares fit to the SNR data gives: Sigma(sub 8.4 GHz) (W/Hz/sq m/sr) = 4.4 x 10(exp -16) D(sub pc)(exp -3.5 +/- 0.1) covering seven orders of magnitude in Sigma. Possible selection effects are discussed and a theoretical discussion of the correlation is presented.
Charge transfer rate coefficients are estimated using Landau-Zener and modified Demkov approximations. The coefficients, augmented by those available from the literature, are used in statistical equilibrium equations describing the state of helium-rich supernova plasma. Such a plasma may describe both Type Ib and Type Ic supernova ejecta. The hypothesis that extensive mixing of metals with helium in Type Ic supernovae may provide a catalyst for rapid charge transfer that weakens the helium line emission by altering the excitation balance is tested. It is shown that charge transfer as a mechanism for suppressing helium line emission is ineffective unless the metal abundance is comparable to or larger than the helium abundance. This result supports an earlier conclusion that Type Ic supernovae must be helium poor relative to Type Ib events.
At 2.5 min southeast of SN 1987A, the Honeycomb Nebula Supernova remnant (SNR) is named after its interesting morphology, which consists of over ten loops with sizes of 2-3 pc. High-dispersion spectra of these loops show hemispheres expanding toward the observer at 100-300 km/s. Using archival data X-ray data and a combination of new and archival radio data, we find bright X-ray and nonthermal radio emisssion associated with the Honeycomb Nebula. New CCD images further show enhanced (S II) H-alpha ratios. These results confirm a model in which the Honeycomb Nebula is due to a supernova shock front, traveling toward the observer, encountering an intervening sheet of dense, but porous, interstellar gas. The bulk of the supernova remnant resides in a low-density cavity, and is not otherwise visible. The situation is similar to the hidden supernova remnants postulated for the X-ray bright superbubbles. The Honeycomb Nebula has an unusually steep radio spectral index (S(sub nu) is proportional to nu(exp -1.2)), normally associated with young SNRs.
The light curve of Supernova 1993J is calculated using two computational radiation transport approaches. The two approaches are represented by the computer codes STELLA and EDDINGTON. The emphasis is on the shock breakout and the photometry in the U, B and V bands during the first 120 days of the supernova. The STELLA model includes implicit hydrodynamics and is able to model early supernova evolution before the expansion is homologous. The STELLA model employs multi-group photonics and is able to follow the radiation as it decouples from the matter. The EDDINGTON code uses an algorithm for integrating the transport equation which assumes homologous expansion and uses a finer frequency resolution. The agreement between the two codes is considered to be satisfactory only in the case where compatible physical assumptions are made concerning the opacity. The assumptions are justified. The continuum spectrum for SN 1993J is predicted near the shock breakout to be superior to that predicted by standard single energy group hydrocodes. The uncertainties involved in current time dependent models of supernova light curves are discussed.
Atomic and molecular physics of supernovae is discussed with an emphasis on the importance of detailed treatments of the critical atomic and molecular processes with the best available atomic and molecular data. The observations of molecules in SN 1987A are interpreted through a combination of spectral and chemical modelings, leading to strong constraints on the mixing and nucleosynthesis of the supernova. The non-equilibrium chemistry is used to argue that carbon dust can form in the oxygen-rich clumps where the efficient molecular cooling makes the nucleation of dust grains possible. For Type Ia supernovae, the analyses of their nebular spectra lead to strong constraints on the supernova explosion models.
The recent discovery of a supernova (SN 1998bw) seemingly associated with GRB 980425 adds a new twist to the decades-old debate over the origin of gamma-ray bursts. To investigate the possibility that some (or all) bursts are associated with supernovae, we performed a systematic search for temporal/angular correlations using catalogs of BATSE and BATSE/Ulysses burst locations. We find no associations with any of the precise BATSE/Ulysses locations, which allows us to conclude that the fraction of high-fluence gamma-ray bursts associated with known supernovae is small (<0.2%). For the more numerous weaker bursts, the corresponding limiting fraction of 2.5% is far less constraining due to the imprecise locations of these events. This fraction (2.5%) of bursts corresponds to approximately 30% of the recent supernovae used as a comparison data set. Thus, although we find no significant evidence to support a burst/supernova association, the possibility cannot be excluded for weak bursts.
Recent findings of isotopic anomalies of Ca-44 (the decay product of Ti-44) and the enhanced ratio of Si-28/Si-30 in SiC grains X, TiC subgrains, and graphite dust grains within primitive meteorites provides strong evidence that these presolar grains came from core-collapse supernovae. The chemical composition of the presolar grains requires macroscopic mixing of newly nucleo-synthesized elements from explosive silicon burning at the innermost zone of the ejects to higher velocities where C exists and where C/O > 1 in either the outer edge of the oxygen zone or in the He-C zone. To date, the only core-collapse supernova observed to form dust is the brightest supernova of the past four centuries, SN1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Observations of SN1987A confirm large scale macroscopic mixing occurs in the explosions of massive stars. Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities macroscopically mix most of the ejects into regions which are still chemically homogeneous and which cool with different time scales. Only small clumps in the ejects are microscopically mixed. Observations show that dust condensed in the ejects of SN1987A after approx.500 days in the Fe-rich gas. Neither silicates nor SiC grains were seen in the dust emission spectrum of SN1987A. SN1987A, the Rosetta Stone of core-collapse supernovae, shows that while the mixing required to explain presolar grains occurs, the rapid cooling of the Fe zone and the sustained high temperatures of the O-Si, O-C, and He-C zones favor the formation of iron-rich rather than oxygen- or carbon-rich grains.
X-ray Flashes (XRFs), are, like Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) thought to signal the collapse of massive stars in distant galaxies. Many models posit that the isotropic equivalent energies of XRFs are lower than those for GRBs, such that they are visible hom a reduced range of distances when compared with GRBs. Here we present the results of two epoch Hubble Space Telescope imaging of two XRFs. These images taken approximately 45 and 200 days post bust reveal no evidence for an associated supernova in either case. Supernovae such as SN 1998bw would have been visible out to z approximately 1.5 in each case, while faint supernovae such as SN 2002ap would be visible to z approximately 1. At these distances the bursts would not fit the observed correlations between E(sub p) and E(sub iso) and would have required extremely luminous X-ray afterglows. We conclude that should these XRFs reside at low redshift, it is necessary either that their line of sight is heavily extinguished, or that XRFs, unlike GRBs do not have temporally coincident supernovae.
We report on the Chandra observations of the archetypical mixed morphology (or thermal composite) supernova remnant, W44. As with other mixed morphology remnants, W44's projected center is bright in thermal X-rays. It has an obvious radio shell, but no discernable X-ray shell. In addition, X-ray bright knots dot W44's image. The spectral analysis of the Chandra data show that the remnant s hot, bright projected center is metal-rich and that the bright knots are regions of comparatively elevated elemental abundances. Neon is among the affected elements, suggesting that ejecta contributes to the abundance trends. Furthermore, some of the emitting iron atoms appear to be underionized with respect to the other ions, providing the first potential X-ray evidence for dust destruction in a supernova remnant. We use the Chandra data to test the following explanations for W44's X-ray bright center: 1.) entropy mixing due to bulk mixing or thermal conduction, 2.) evaporation of swept up clouds, and 3.) a metallicity gradient, possibly due to dust destruction and ejecta enrichment. In these tests, we assume that the remnant has evolved beyond the adiabatic evolutionary stage, which explains the X-ray dimness of the shell. The entropy mixed model spectrum was tested against the Chandra spectrum for the remnant's projected center and found to be a good match. The evaporating clouds model was constrained by the finding that the ionization parameters of the bright knots are similar to those of the surrounding regions. While both the entropy mixed and the evaporating clouds models are known to predict centrally bright X-ray morphologies, their predictions fall short of the observed brightness gradient. The resulting brightness gap can be largely filled in by emission from the extra metals in and near the remnant's projected center. The preponderance of evidence (including that drawn from other studies) suggests that W44's remarkable morphology can be attributed to dust destruction and ejecta enrichment within an entropy mixed, adiabatic phase supernova remnant. The Chandra data prompts a new question - by what astrophysical mechanisms are the metals distributed so inhomogeneously in the supernova remnant.
This paper presents archival ROSAT PSPC observations of the G65.2+5.7 supernova remnant (also known as G65.3+5.7). Little material obscures this remnant and so it was well observed, even at the softest end of ROSATs bandpass (approx. 0.11 to 0.28 keV). These soft X-ray images reveal the remnant s centrally-filled morphology which, in combination with existing radio frequency observations, places G65.2+5.7 in the thermal composite (mixed morphology) class of supernova remnants. Not only might G65.2+5.7 be the oldest known thermal composite supernova remnant, but owing to its optically revealed cool, dense shell, this remnant supports the proposal that thermal composite supernova remnants lack X-ray bright shells because they have evolved beyond the adiabatic phase. These observations also reveal a slightly extended point source centered on RA = l9(sup h) 36(sup m) 46(sup s). dec = 30 deg.40 min.07 sec.and extending 6.5 arc min in radius in the band 67 map. The source of this emission has yet to be discovered, as there is no known pulsar at this location.
An interplanetary dust particle contains a submicrometer crystalline silicate aggregate of probable supernova origin. The grain has a pronounced enrichment in 18O/16O (13 times the solar value) and depletions in 17O/16O (one-third solar) and 29Si/28Si (<0.8 times solar), indicative of formation from a type II supernova. The aggregate contains olivine (forsterite 83) grains <100 nanometers in size, with microstructures that are consistent with minimal thermal alteration. This unusually iron-rich olivine grain could have formed by equilibrium condensation from cooling supernova ejecta if several different nucleosynthetic zones mixed in the proper proportions. The supernova grain is also partially encased in nitrogen-15-rich organic matter that likely formed in a presolar cold molecular cloud.
Unusual extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs have been taken as evidence that dust is primarily produced by supernovae at high redshift. In particular, the 3000 ˚A Todini-Ferrara-Maiolino kink in the extinction curve of the z = 6.20 SDSS J1048+4637 has been attributed to supernova dust. Here we discuss the challenges in inferring robust extinction curves of high-redshift QSOs and critically assess previous claims of detection of supernova dust. In particular, we address the sensitivity to the choice of intrinsic QSO spectrum, the need for a long wavelength baseline, and the drawbacks in fitting theoretical extinction curves. In a sample of 21 QSOs at z ∼ 6 we detect significant ultraviolet extinction using existing broad-band optical, near-infrared, and Spitzer photometry. The median extinction curve is consistent with a Small Magellanic Cloud curve with A1450 ∼ 0.7 mag and does not exhibit any conspicuous (restframe) 2175 ˚A or 3000 ˚A features. For two QSOs, SDSS J1044−0125 at z = 5.78 and SDSS J1030+0524 at z = 6.31, we further present X-shooter spectra covering the wavelength range 0.9-2.5 μm. The resulting non-parametric extinction curves do not exhibit the 3000 ˚A kink. Finally, in a re-analysis of literature spectra of SDSS J1048+4637, we do not find evidence for a conspicuous kink. We conclude that the existing evidence for a 3000 ˚A feature is weak and that the overall dust properties at high and low redshift show no significant differences. This, however, does not preclude supernovae from dominating the dust budget at high redshift.
Supernova (SN) explosions are crucial engines driving the evolution of galaxies by shock heating gas, increasing the metallicity, creating dust, and accelerating energetic particles. In 2012 we used the Atacama Large Millimeter/ Submillimeter Array to observe SN1987A, one of the best-observed supernovae since the invention of the telescope. We present spatially resolved images at 450 μm, 870 μm, 1.4 mm, and 2.8 mm, an important transition wavelength range. Longer wavelength emission is dominated by synchrotron radiation from shock-accelerated particles, shorter wavelengths by emission from the largest mass of dust measured in a supernova remnant (>0.2 Solar Mass). For the first time we show unambiguously that this dust has formed in the inner ejecta (the cold remnants of the exploded star's core). The dust emission is concentrated at the center of the remnant, so the dust has not yet been affected by the shocks. If a significant fraction survives, and if SN 1987A is typical, supernovae are important cosmological dust producers.
Since the discovery of the unusual prototype SN 2002cx, the eponymous class of low-velocity, hydrogen-poor supernovae has grown to include at most another two dozen members identified from several heterogeneous surveys, in some cases ambiguously. Here we present the results of a systematic study of 1077 hydrogen-poor supernovae discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory, leading to nine new members of this peculiar class. Moreover we find there are two distinct subclasses based on their spectroscopic, photometric, and host galaxy properties: The "SN 2002cx-like" supernovae tend to be in later-type or more irregular hosts, have more varied and generally dimmer luminosities, have longer rise times, and lack a Ti II trough when compared to the \SN 2002es-like" supernovae. None of our objects show helium, and we counter a previous claim of two such events. We also find that these transients comprise 5.6+17 -3:7% (90% confidence) of all SNe Ia, lower compared to earlier estimates. Combining our objects with the literature sample, we propose that these subclasses have two distinct physical origins.