| 1. |
- Smartt, S. J., et al.
(författare)
-
PESSTO : survey description and products from the first data release by the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 579
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The Public European Southern Observatory Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO) began as a public spectroscopic survey in April 2012. PESSTO classifies transients from publicly available sources and wide-field surveys, and selects science targets for detailed spectroscopic and photometric follow-up. PESSTO runs for nine months of the year, January - April and August - December inclusive, and typically has allocations of 10 nights per month. Aims. We describe the data reduction strategy and data products that are publicly available through the ESO archive as the Spectroscopic Survey data release 1 (SSDR1). Methods. PESSTO uses the New Technology Telescope with the instruments EFOSC2 and SOFI to provide optical and NIR spectroscopy and imaging. We target supernovae and optical transients brighter than 20.5(m) for classification. Science targets are selected for follow-up based on the PESSTO science goal of extending knowledge of the extremes of the supernova population. We use standard EFOSC2 set-ups providing spectra with resolutions of 13-18 angstrom between 3345-9995 angstrom. A subset of the brighter science targets are selected for SOFI spectroscopy with the blue and red grisms (0.935-2.53 mu m and resolutions 23-33 angstrom) and imaging with broadband JHK(s) filters. Results. This first data release (SSDR1) contains flux calibrated spectra from the first year (April 2012-2013). A total of 221 confirmed supernovae were classified, and we released calibrated optical spectra and classifications publicly within 24 h of the data being taken (via WISeREP). The data in SSDR1 replace those released spectra. They have more reliable and quantifiable flux calibrations, correction for telluric absorption, and are made available in standard ESO Phase 3 formats. We estimate the absolute accuracy of the flux calibrations for EFOSC2 across the whole survey in SSDR1 to be typically similar to 15%, although a number of spectra will have less reliable absolute flux calibration because of weather and slit losses. Acquisition images for each spectrum are available which, in principle, can allow the user to refine the absolute flux calibration. The standard NIR reduction process does not produce high accuracy absolute spectrophotometry but synthetic photometry with accompanying JHK(s) imaging can improve this. Whenever possible, reduced SOFI images are provided to allow this. Conclusions. Future data releases will focus on improving the automated flux calibration of the data products. The rapid turnaround between discovery and classification and access to reliable pipeline processed data products has allowed early science papers in the first few months of the survey.
|
|
| 2. |
- Childress, M. J., et al.
(författare)
-
Measuring nickel masses in Type Ia supernovae using cobalt emission in nebular phase spectra
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 454:4, s. 3816-3842
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The light curves of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are powered by the radioactive decay of Ni-56 to Co-56 at early times, and the decay of Co-56 to Fe-56 from similar to 60 d after explosion. We examine the evolution of the [Co III] lambda 5893 emission complex during the nebular phase for SNe Ia with multiple nebular spectra and show that the line flux follows the square of the mass of Co-56 as a function of time. This result indicates both efficient local energy deposition from positrons produced in Co-56 decay and long-term stability of the ionization state of the nebula. We compile SN Ia nebular spectra from the literature and present 21 new late-phase spectra of 7 SNe Ia, including SN 2014J. From these we measure the flux in the [Co III] lambda 5893 line and remove its well-behaved time dependence to infer the initial mass of Ni-56 (M-Ni, produced in the explosion. We then examine Ni-56 yields for different SN Ia ejected masses (M-ej-calculated using the relation between light-curve width and ejected mass) and find that the Ni-56 masses of SNe Ia fall into two regimes: for narrow light curves (low stretch s similar to 0.7-0.9), M-Ni is clustered near MN, 0.4 Me and shows a shallow increase as Mei increases from similar to 1 to 1.4 M-circle dot; at high stretch, M-ej clusters at the Chandrasekhar mass (1.4 M-circle dot) while M-Ni, spans a broad range from 0.6 to 1.2 M-circle dot. This could constitute evidence for two distinct SN Ia explosion mechanisms.
|
|
| 3. |
- Inserra, C., et al.
(författare)
-
OGLE-2013-SN-079 : A LONELY SUPERNOVA CONSISTENT WITH A HELIUM SHELL DETONATION
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 799:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present observational data for a peculiar supernova discovered by the OGLE-IV survey and followed by the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects. The inferred redshift of z = 0.07 implies an absolute magnitude in the rest-frame I-band of M-1 similar to -17.6 mag. This places it in the luminosity range between normal Type Ia SNe and novae. Optical and near infrared spectroscopy reveal mostly Ti and Ca lines, and an unusually red color arising from strong depression of flux at rest wavelengths <5000 angstrom. To date, this is the only reported SN showing Ti-dominated spectra. The data are broadly consistent with existing models for the pure detonation of a helium shell around a low-mass CO white dwarf and double-detonation models that include a secondary detonation of a CO core following a primary detonation in an overlying helium shell.
|
|
| 4. |
- Gall, E. E. E., et al.
(författare)
-
A comparative study of Type II-P and II-L supernova rise times as exemplified by the case of LSQ13cuw
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 582
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on our findings based on the analysis of observations of the Type II-L supernova LSQ13cuw within the framework of currently accepted physical predictions of core-collapse supernova explosions. LSQ13cuw was discovered within a day of explosion, hitherto unprecedented for Type II-L supernovae. This motivated a comparative study of Type II-P and II-L supernovae with relatively well-constrained explosion epochs and rise times to maximum (optical) light. From our sample of twenty such events, we find evidence of a positive correlation between the duration of the rise and the peak brightness. On average, SNe II-L tend to have brighter peak magnitudes and longer rise times than SNe II-P. However, this difference is clearest only at the extreme ends of the rise time versus peak brightness relation. Using two different analytical models, we performed a parameter study to investigate the physical parameters that control the rise time behaviour. In general, the models qualitatively reproduce aspects of the observed trends. We find that the brightness of the optical peak increases for larger progenitor radii and explosion energies, and decreases for larger masses. The dependence of the rise time on mass and explosion energy is smaller than the dependence on the progenitor radius. We find no evidence that the progenitors of SNe II-L have significantly smaller radii than those of SNe II-P.
|
|
| 5. |
- Kankare, E., et al.
(författare)
-
On the triple peaks of SNHunt248 in NGC 5806
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 581
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present our findings on a supernova (SN) impostor, SNHunt248, based on optical and near-IR data spanning similar to 15 yr before discovery, to similar to 1 yr post-discovery. The light curve displays three distinct peaks, the brightest of which is at MR similar to -15.0 mag. The post-discovery evolution is consistent with the ejecta from the outburst interacting with two distinct regions of circumstellar material. The 0.5-2.2 mu m spectral energy distribution at -740 d is well-matched by a single 6700 K blackbody with log(L/L-circle dot) similar to 6.1. This temperature and luminosity support previous suggestions of a yellow hypergiant progenitor; however, we find it to be brighter than the brightest and most massive Galactic late-F to early-G spectral type hypergiants. Overall the historical light curve displays variability of up to similar to +/- 1 mag. At current epochs (similar to 1 yr post-outburst), the absolute magnitude (MR similar to -9 mag) is just below the faintest observed historical absolute magnitude similar to 10 yr before discovery.
|
|
| 6. |
- Polshaw, J., et al.
(författare)
-
A supernova distance to the anchor galaxy NGC 4258
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 580
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The fortuitous occurrence of a type II-Plateau (IIP) supernova, SN 2014bc, in a galaxy for which distance estimates from a number of primary distance indicators are available provides a means with which to cross-calibrate the standardised candle method (SCM) for type IIP SNe. By applying calibrations from the literature we find distance estimates in line with the most precise measurement to NGC 4258 based on the Keplerian motion of masers (7.6 +/- 0.23 Mpc), albeit with significant scatter. We provide an alternative local SCM calibration by only considering type IIP SNe that have occurred in galaxies for which a Cepheid distance estimate is available. We find a considerable reduction in scatter (sigma(I) = 0.16 mag), but note that the current sample size is limited. Applying this calibration, we estimate a distance to NGC 4258 of 7.08 +/- 0.86 Mpc.
|
|
| 7. |
- Nicholl, M., et al.
(författare)
-
On the diversity of superluminous supernovae : ejected mass as the dominant factor
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 452:4, s. 3869-3893
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We assemble a sample of 24 hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe). Parameterizing the light-curve shape through rise and decline time-scales shows that the two are highly correlated. Magnetar-powered models can reproduce the correlation, with the diversity in rise and decline rates driven by the diffusion time-scale. Circumstellar interaction models can exhibit a similar rise-decline relation, but only for a narrow range of densities, which may be problematic for these models. We find that SLSNe are approximately 3.5 mag brighter and have light curves three times broader than SNe Ibc, but that the intrinsic shapes are similar. There are a number of SLSNe with particularly broad light curves, possibly indicating two progenitor channels, but statistical tests do not cleanly separate two populations. The general spectral evolution is also presented. Velocities measured from Fe II are similar for SLSNe and SNe Ibc, suggesting that diffusion time differences are dominated by mass or opacity. Flat velocity evolution in most SLSNe suggests a dense shell of ejecta. If opacities in SLSNe are similar to other SNe Ibc, the average ejected mass is higher by a factor 2-3. Assuming. = 0.1 cm(2) g(-1), we estimate a mean (median) SLSN ejecta mass of 10 M-circle dot (6 M-circle dot), with a range of 3-30 M-circle dot. Doubling the assumed opacity brings the masses closer to normal SNe Ibc, but with a high-mass tail. The most probable mechanism for generating SLSNe seems to be the core collapse of a very massive hydrogen-poor star, forming a millisecond magnetar.
|
|
