| 1. |
- Smartt, S. J., et al.
(author)
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A kilonova as the electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave source
- 2017
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 551:7678, s. 75-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gravitational waves were discovered with the detection of binary black-hole mergers(1) and they should also be detectable from lower-mass neutron-star mergers. These are predicted to eject material rich in heavy radioactive isotopes that can power an electromagnetic signal. This signal is luminous at optical and infrared wavelengths and is called a kilonova(2-5). The gravitational-wave source GW170817 arose from a binary neutron-star merger in the nearby Universe with a relatively well confined sky position and distance estimate(6). Here we report observations and physical modelling of a rapidly fading electromagnetic transient in the galaxy NGC 4993, which is spatially coincident with GW170817 and with a weak, short.-ray burst(7,8). The transient has physical parameters that broadly match the theoretical predictions of blue kilonovae from neutron-star mergers. The emitted electromagnetic radiation can be explained with an ejected mass of 0.04 +/- 0.01 solar masses, with an opacity of less than 0.5 square centimetres per gram, at a velocity of 0.2 +/- 0.1 times light speed. The power source is constrained to have a power-law slope of -1.2 +/- 0.3, consistent with radioactive powering from r-process nuclides. (The r-process is a series of neutron capture reactions that synthesise many of the elements heavier than iron.) We identify line features in the spectra that are consistent with light r-process elements (atomic masses of 90-140). As it fades, the transient rapidly becomes red, and a higher-opacity, lanthanide-rich ejecta component may contribute to the emission. This indicates that neutron-star mergers produce gravitational waves and radioactively powered kilonovae, and are a nucleosynthetic source of the r-process elements.
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| 2. |
- Anderson, J. P., et al.
(author)
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A nearby super-luminous supernova with a long pre-maximum plateau and strong C (II) features
- 2018
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 620
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. Super-luminous supernovae (SLSNe) are rare events defined as being significantly more luminous than normal terminal stellar explosions. The source of the additional power needed to achieve such luminosities is still unclear. Discoveries in the local Universe (i.e. z < 0.1) are scarce, but afford dense multi-wavelength observations. Additional low-redshift objects are therefore extremely valuable.Aims. We present early-time observations of the type I SLSN ASASSN-18km/SN 2018bsz. These data are used to characterise the event and compare to literature SLSNe and spectral models. Host galaxy properties are also analysed.Methods. Optical and near-IR photometry and spectroscopy were analysed. Early-time ATLAS photometry was used to constrain the rising light curve. We identified a number of spectral features in optical-wavelength spectra and track their time evolution. Finally, we used archival host galaxy photometry together with H( II )region spectra to constrain the host environment.Results. ASASSN-18km/SN 2018bsz is found to be a type I SLSN in a galaxy at a redshift of 0.0267 (111 Mpc), making it the lowest-redshift event discovered to date. Strong C- II lines are identified in the spectra. Spectral models produced by exploding a Wolf-Rayet progenitor and injecting a magnetar power source are shown to be qualitatively similar to ASASSN-18km/SN 2018bsz, contrary to most SLSNe-I that display weak or non-existent C (II) lines. ASASSN-18km/SN 2018bsz displays along, slowly rising, red plateau of >26 days, before a steeper, faster rise to maximum. The host has an absolute magnitude of -19.8 mag (r), a mass of M-* = 1.5(-0.33)(+0.08) x 10(9) M-circle dot, and a star formation rate of =0.50(-0.19)(+2.22) M-circle dot yr(-1). A nearby H (II) region has an oxygen abundance (O3N2) of 8.31 +/- 0.01 dex.
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| 3. |
- Terreran, G., et al.
(author)
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Hydrogen-rich supernovae beyond the neutrino-driven core-collapse paradigm
- 2017
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In: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 1:10, s. 713-720
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Type II supernovae are the final stage of massive stars (above 8 M-circle dot) which retain part of their hydrogen-rich envelope at the moment of explosion. They typically eject up to 15 M-circle dot of material, with peak magnitudes of -17.5 mag and energies in the order of 10(51) erg, which can be explained by neutrino-driven explosions and neutron star formation. Here, we present our study of OGLE-2014-SN-073, one of the brightest type II supernovae ever discovered, with an unusually broad lightcurve combined with high ejecta velocities. From our hydrodynamical modelling, we infer a remarkable ejecta mass of 60(-16)(+42) M-circle dot and a relatively high explosion energy of 12.4(-5.9)(+13.0) x 10(51) erg. We show that this object belongs, along with a very small number of other hydrogen-rich supernovae, to an energy regime that is not explained by standard core-collapse neutrino-driven explosions. We compare the quantities inferred by the hydrodynamical modelling with the expectations of various exploding scenarios and attempt to explain the high energy and luminosity released. We find some qualitative similarities with pair-instability supernovae, although the prompt injection of energy by a magnetar seems to be a viable alternative explanation for such an extreme event.
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| 4. |
- Pessi, Priscila Jael, et al.
(author)
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Broad-emission-line dominated hydrogen-rich luminous supernovae
- 2023
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 523:4, s. 5315-5340
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Hydrogen-rich Type II supernovae (SNe II) are the most frequently observed class of core-collapse SNe (CCSNe). However, most studies that analyse large samples of SNe II lack events with absolute peak magnitudes brighter than −18.5 mag at rest-frame optical wavelengths. Thanks to modern surveys, the detected number of such luminous SNe II (LSNe II) is growing. There exist several mechanisms that could produce luminous SNe II. The most popular propose either the presence of a central engine (a magnetar gradually spinning down or a black hole accreting fallback material) or the interaction of supernova ejecta with circumstellar material (CSM) that turns kinetic energy into radiation energy. In this work, we study the light curves and spectral series of a small sample of six LSNe II that show peculiarities in their H α profile, to attempt to understand the underlying powering mechanism. We favour an interaction scenario with CSM that is not dense enough to be optically thick to electron scattering on large scales – thus, no narrow emission lines are observed. This conclusion is based on the observed light curve (higher luminosity, fast decline, blue colours) and spectral features (lack of persistent narrow lines, broad H α emission, lack of H α absorption, weak, or non-existent metal lines) together with comparison to other luminous events available in the literature. We add to the growing evidence that transients powered by ejecta–CSM interaction do not necessarily display persistent narrow emission lines.
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| 5. |
- Reynolds, T. M., et al.
(author)
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SN 2016gsd : an unusually luminous and linear Type II supernova with high velocities
- 2020
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 493:2, s. 1761-1781
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present observations of the unusually luminous Type II supernova (SN) 2016gsd. With a peak absolute magnitude of V = -19.95 +/- 0.08, this object is one of the brightest Type II SNe, and lies in the gap of magnitudes between the majority of Type II SNe and the superluminous SNe. Its light curve shows little evidence of the expected drop from the optically thick phase to the radioactively powered tail. The velocities derived from the absorption in( )H alpha are also unusually high with the blue edge tracing the fastest moving gas initially at 20 000 km s(-1), and then declining approximately linearly to 15000 km s(-1) over similar to 100 d. The dwarf host galaxy of the SN indicates a low-metallicity progenitor which may also contribute to the weakness of the metal lines in its spectra. We examine SN 2016gsd with reference to similarly luminous, linear Type II SNe such as SNe 1979C and 1998S, and discuss the interpretation of its observational characteristics. We compare the observations with a model produced by the JEKYLL code and find that a massive star with a depleted and inflated hydrogen envelope struggles to reproduce the high luminosity and extreme linearity of SN 2016gsd. Instead, we suggest that the influence of interaction between the SN ejecta and circumstellar material can explain the majority of the observed properties of the SN. The high velocities and strong H alpha absorption present throughout the evolution of the SN may imply a circumstellar medium configured in an asymmetric geometry.
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| 6. |
- Anderson, P., et al.
(author)
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The lowest-metallicity type II supernova from the highest-mass red supergiant progenitor
- 2018
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In: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2:7, s. 574-579
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Red supergiants have been confirmed as the progenitor stars of the majority of hydrogen-rich type II supernovae(1). However, while such stars are observed with masses > 25 M-circle dot (ref. (2)), detections of > 18 M-circle dot progenitors remain elusive(1). Red supergiants are also expected to form at all metallicities, but discoveries of explosions from low-metallicity progenitors are scarce. Here, we report observations of the type II supernova, SN 2015bs, for which we infer a progenitor metallicity of <= 0.1 Z(circle dot) from comparison to photospheric-phase spectral models(3), and a zero-age main-sequence mass of 17-25 M-circle dot through comparison to nebular-phase spectral models(4,5). SN 2015bs displays a normal 'plateau' light-curve morphology, and typical spectral properties, implying a red supergiant progenitor. This is the first example of such a high-mass progenitor for a 'normal' type II supernova, suggesting a link between high-mass red supergiant explosions and low-metallicity progenitors.
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| 7. |
- Gutiérrez, C. P., et al.
(author)
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Type II supernovae in low-luminosity host galaxies
- 2018
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 479:3, s. 3232-3253
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present an analysis of a new sample of type II core-collapse supernovae (SNe II) occurring within low-luminosity galaxies, comparing these with a sample of events in brighter hosts. Our analysis is performed comparing SN II spectral and photometric parameters and estimating the influence of metallicity (inferred from host luminosity differences) on SN II transient properties. We measure the SN absolute magnitude at maximum, the light-curve plateau duration, the optically thick duration, and the plateau decline rate in the V band, together with expansion velocities and pseudo-equivalent-widths (pEWs) of several absorption lines in the SN spectra. For the SN host galaxies, we estimate the absolute magnitude and the stellar mass, a proxy for the metallicity of the host galaxy. SNe II exploding in low-luminosity galaxies display weaker pEWs of Fe II lambda 5018, confirming the theoretical prediction that metal lines in SN II spectra should correlate with metallicity. We also find that SNe II in low-luminosity hosts have generally slower declining light curves and display weaker absorption lines. We find no relationship between the plateau duration or the expansion velocities with SN environment, suggesting that the hydrogen envelope mass and the explosion energy are not correlated with the metallicity of the host galaxy. This result supports recent predictions that mass-loss for red supergiants is independent of metallicity.
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| 8. |
- Polshaw, J., et al.
(author)
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LSQ13fn : A type II-Plateau supernova with a possibly low metallicity progenitor that breaks the standardised candle relation
- 2016
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 588
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present optical imaging and spectroscopy of supernova (SN) LSQ13fn, a type II supernova with several hitherto-unseen properties. Although it initially showed strong symmetric spectral emission features attributable to He II, N III, and C III, reminiscent of some interacting SNe, it transitioned into an object that would fall more naturally under a type II-Plateau (IIP) classification. However, its spectral evolution revealed several unusual properties: metal lines appeared later than expected, were weak, and some species were conspicuous by their absence. Furthermore, the line velocities were found to be lower than expected given the plateau brightness, breaking the SN IIP standardised candle method for distance estimates. We found that, in combination with a short phase of early-time ejecta-circumstellar material interaction, metal-poor ejecta, and a large progenitor radius could reasonably account for the observed behaviour. Comparisons with synthetic model spectra of SNe IIP of a given progenitor mass would imply a progenitor star metallicity as low as 0.1 Z(circle dot). LSQ13fn highlights the diversity of SNe II and the many competing physical e ff ects that come into play towards the final stages of massive star evolution immediately preceding core-collapse.
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| 9. |
- Bulla, Mattia, et al.
(author)
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ZTF Early Observations of Type Ia Supernovae. III. Early-time Colors As a Test for Explosion Models and Multiple Populations
- 2020
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 902:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Colors of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the first few days after explosion provide a potential discriminant between different models. In this paper, we present g - r colors of 65 SNe Ia discovered within 5 days from first light by the Zwicky Transient Facility in 2018, a sample that is about three times larger than that in the literature. We find that g - r colors are intrinsically rather homogeneous at early phases, with about half of the dispersion attributable to photometric uncertainties (0.18 mag). Colors are nearly constant starting from 6 days after first light (g-r similar to -0.15 mag), while the time evolution at earlier epochs is characterized by a continuous range of slopes, from events rapidly transitioning from redder to bluer colors (slope of similar to-0.25 mag day(-1)) to events with a flatter evolution. The continuum in the slope distribution is in good agreement both with models requiring some amount of Ni-56 mixed in the outermost regions of the ejecta and with double-detonation models having thin helium layers (M-He = 0.01 M-circle dot) and varying carbon-oxygen core masses. At the same time, six events show evidence for a distinctive red bump signature predicted by double-detonation models with larger helium masses. We finally identify a significant correlation between the early-timeg - rslopes and supernova brightness, with brighter events associated to flatter color evolution (p-value = 0.006). The distribution of slopes, however, is consistent with being drawn from a single population, with no evidence for two components as claimed in the literature based on B - V colors.
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| 10. |
- Flörs, A., et al.
(author)
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Sub-Chandrasekhar progenitors favoured for Type Ia supernovae : evidence from late-time spectroscopy
- 2020
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 491:2, s. 2902-2918
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A non-local-thermodynamic-equilibrium level population model of the first and second ionization stages of iron, nickel, and cobalt is used to fit a sample of XShooter optical + near-infrared (NIR) spectra of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). From the ratio of the NIR lines to the optical lines limits can be placed on the temperature and density of the emission region. We find a similar evolution of these parameters across our sample. Using the evolution of the Fe II 12 570 -7155 angstrom line as a prior in fits of spectra covering only the optical wavelengths we show that the 7200 angstrom feature is fully explained by [Fe II] and [Ni II] alone. This approach allows us to determine the abundance of Ni II/Fe II for a large sample of 130 optical spectra of 58 SNe Ia with uncertainties small enough to distinguish between Chandrasekhar mass (MCh) and sub-Chandrasekhar mass (sub-MCh) explosion models. We conclude that the majority (85 per cent) of normal SNe Ia have a Ni/Fe abundance that is in agreement with predictions of sub- MCh explosion simulations of similar to Z(circle dot) progenitors. Only a small fraction (11 per cent) of objects in the sample have a Ni/Fe abundance in agreement with M-Ch explosion models.
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| 11. |
- Kelly, Patrick L., et al.
(author)
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Constraints on the Hubble constant from supernova Refsdal's reappearance
- 2023
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In: Science. - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 380:6649
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The gravitationally lensed supernova Refsdal appeared in multiple images produced through gravitational lensing by a massive foreground galaxy cluster. After the supernova appeared in 2014, lens models of the galaxy cluster predicted that an additional image of the supernova would appear in 2015, which was subsequently observed. We use the time delays between the images to perform a blinded measurement of the expansion rate of the Universe, quantified by the Hubble constant (H0). Using eight cluster lens models, we infer kilometers per second per megaparsec. Using the two models most consistent with the observations, we find kilometers per second per megaparsec. The observations are best reproduced by models that assign dark-matter halos to individual galaxies and the overall cluster.
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| 12. |
- Robert, Zhargalma Dandarova, et al.
(author)
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A Web-based Database for Drawings of Gods: When the Digitals Go Multicultural
- 2016
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In: Archive for the Psychology of Religion/ Archiv für Religionspsychologie. - : Brill. - 0084-6724 .- 1573-6121. ; 38:3, s. 345-352
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This original web-based database was developed at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) as part of the international research project “Drawings of gods”, which explores children's representations of supernatural agents. Its primary purpose is to store and organize data and metadata to be easily accessible to all affiliated researchers. However, anyone interested in the matter can view the drawings, as they were made publicly available. At present, our corpus is composed of over 5'100 drawings collected in different parts of the world (i.e., Japan, Russia, Switzerland, Romania, USA and Iran) and yet constantly developing.
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