| 1. |
- Smartt, S. J., et al.
(författare)
-
A kilonova as the electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave source
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 551:7678, s. 75-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)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.
|
|
| 2. |
- Smartt, S. J., et al.
(författare)
-
A SEARCH FOR AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART TO THE GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW151226
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 827:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a search for an electromagnetic counterpart of the gravitational-wave source GW151226. Using the Pan-STARRS1 telescope we mapped out 290 square degrees in the optical i(P1) filter, starting 11.5 hr after the LIGO information release and lasting for an additional 28 days. The first observations started 49.5 hr after the time of the GW151226 detection. We typically reached sensitivity limits of i(P1) = 20.3-20.8 and covered 26.5% of the LIGO probability skymap. We supplemented this with ATLAS survey data, reaching 31% of the probability region to shallower depths of m similar or equal to 19. We found 49 extragalactic transients (that are not obviously active galactic nuclei), including a faint transient in a galaxy at 7 Mpc (a luminous blue variable outburst) plus a rapidly decaying M-dwarf flare. Spectral classification of 20 other transient events showed them all to be supernovae. We found an unusual transient, PS15dpn, with an explosion date temporally coincident with GW151226, that evolved into a type Ibn supernova. The redshift of the transient is secure at z = 0.1747 +/- 0.0001 and we find it unlikely to be linked, since the luminosity distance has a negligible probability of being consistent with that of GW151226. In the 290 square degrees surveyed we therefore do not find a likely counterpart. However we show that our survey strategy would be sensitive to NS-NS mergers producing kilonovae at D-L less than or similar to 100 Mpc, which is promising for future LIGO/Virgo searches.
|
|
| 3. |
- Bjorck, S, et al.
(författare)
-
Synchronized terrestrial-atmospheric deglacial records around the North Atlantic
- 1996
-
Ingår i: SCIENCE. - : AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE. - 0036-8075. ; 274:5290, s. 1155-1160
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- On the basis of synchronization of three carbon-14 (C-14)-dated lacustrine sequences from Sweden With tree ring and ice core records, the absolute age of the Younger Dryas-Preboreal climatic shift was determined to be 11,450 to 11,390 +/- 80 years before
|
|
| 4. |
- Taubenberger, S., et al.
(författare)
-
SN2012dn from early to late times : 09dc-like supernovae reassessed
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 488:4, s. 5473-5488
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As a candidate super-Chandrasekhar' or 09dc-like TypeIa supernova (SNIa), SN 2012dn shares many characteristics with other members of this remarkable class of objects but lacks their extraordinary luminosity. Here, we present and discuss the most comprehensive optical data set of this SN to date, comprised of a densely sampled series of early-time spectra obtained within the Nearby Supernova Factory project, plus photometry and spectroscopy obtained at the Very Large Telescope about 1yr after the explosion. The light curves, colour curves, spectral time series, and ejecta velocities of SN 2012dn are compared with those of other 09dc-like and normal SNeIa, the overall variety within the class of 09dc-like SNeIa is discussed, and new criteria for 09dc-likeness are proposed. Particular attention is directed to additional insight that the late-phase data provide. The nebular spectra show forbidden lines of oxygen and calcium, elements that are usually not seen in late-time spectra of SNeIa, while the ionization state of the emitting iron plasma is low, pointing to low ejecta temperatures and high densities. The optical light curves are characterized by an enhanced fading starting similar to 60d after maximum and very low luminosities in the nebular phase, which is most readily explained by unusually early formation of clumpy dust in the ejecta. Taken together, these effects suggest a strongly perturbed ejecta density profile, which might lend support to the idea that 09dc-like characteristics arise from a brief episode of interaction with a hydrogen-deficient envelope during the first hours or days after the explosion.
|
|
| 5. |
- Björck, Svante, et al.
(författare)
-
A Holocene lacustrine record in the central North Atlantic: proxies for volcanic activity, short-term NAO mode variability, and long-term precipitation changes
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 25:1-2, s. 9-32
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lake and peat corings on three Azores islands in the central North Atlantic, resulted in the discovery of a 6000 year long lacustrine sequence in a small crater lake, Lake Caveiro, on the island of Pico. This island is dominated by Pico mountain (2351 m), Portugal's highest mountain, and the lake site is situated at 903 in asl. Two sediment profiles, one central and one littoral, were sampled. Due to large facial shifts and disconformities in the littoral cores the analyses were concentrated on the central core; only the earliest 1000 years of the littoral core were studied to complement the central profile. We used sedimentology, geochemistry, diatom analyses, magnetic properties, and multivariate statistics, together with C-14 and Pb-210 dating techniques, to analyse the environmental history of the lake. Volcanic activity seems to have had a dominating impact on sediment changes and partly also on the diatom assemblages; a large number of tephras are found and seem to be connected with large (diatom) inferred pH variations. However, by a combination of methods, including multivariate techniques, we infer that precipitation changes can be detected through the volcanic noise. In the youngest part of the record (AD 1600-2000), with its decadal resolution, these humidity variations seem partly related to shifts in dominating NAO mode. The more long-term precipitation changes further back in time (350-5100 cal yr BP) roughly correspond to the well-known North Atlantic drift-ice variations as well as other North Atlantic records; low precipitation during drift-ice periods. We think these alterations were driven by changes in the thermolialine circulation as large-scale equivalences to the Great Salt Anomaly; low sea surface A temperatures and changes in circulation patterns of the central North Atlantic decreased the regional precipitation. Cooler/drier periods occurred 400-800, 1300-1800, 2600-3000, 3300-3400 and possibly also 4400-4600 cal yr BP,. while 300-400, 900-1000, 2000-2400, 3100-3200, 3800-4000 and 4700-5000 cal yr BP seem to have been more humid phases on the Azores. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Björck, S., et al.
(författare)
-
Synchronized terrestrial-atmospheric deglacial records around the North Atlantic.
- 1996
-
Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 274:5290, s. 1155-1160
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- On the basis of synchronization of three carbon-14 (C-14)-dated lacustrine sequences from Sweden With tree ring and ice core records, the absolute age of the Younger Dryas-Preboreal climatic shift was determined to be 11,450 to 11,390 +/- 80 years before the present. A 150-year-long cooling in the early Preboreal, associated with rising Delta(14)C values, is evident in all records and indicates an ocean ventilation change. This cooling is similar to earlier deglacial coolings, and box-model calculations suggest that they all may have been the result of increased freshwater forcing that inhibited the strength of the North Atlantic heat conveyor, although the Younger Dryas may have begun as an anomalous meltwater event.
|
|
| 8. |
- Galbany, L., et al.
(författare)
-
Evidence for a Chandrasekhar-mass explosion in the Ca-strong 1991bg-like type la supernova 2016hnk
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 630
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. We present a comprehensive dataset of optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of type Ia supernova (SN) 2016hnk, combined with integral field spectroscopy (IFS) of its host galaxy, MCG -01-06-070, and nearby environment. Our goal with this complete dataset is to understand the nature of this peculiar object.Methods. Properties of the SN local environment are characterized by means of single stellar population synthesis applied to IFS observations taken two years after the SN exploded. We performed detailed analyses of SN photometric data by studying its peculiar light and color curves. SN 2016hnk spectra were compared to other 1991bg-like SNe Ia, 2002es-like SNe Ia, and Ca-rich transients. In addition, we used abundance stratification modeling to identify the various spectral features in the early phase spectral sequence and also compared the dataset to a modified non-LTE model previously produced for the sublumnious SN 1999by.Results. SN 2016hnk is consistent with being a subluminous (M-B = -16.7 mag, S-BV =0.43 +/- 0.03), highly reddened object. The IFS of its host galaxy reveals both a significant amount of dust at the SN location, residual star formation, and a high proportion of old stellar populations in the local environment compared to other locations in the galaxy, which favors an old progenitor for SN 2016hnk. Inspection of a nebular spectrum obtained one year after maximum contains two narrow emission lines attributed to the forbidden [Ca II] lambda lambda 7291,7324 doublet with a Doppler shift of 700 km s(-1). Based on various observational diagnostics, we argue that the progenitor of SN 2016hnk was likely a near Chandrasekhar-mass (M-Ch) carbon-oxygen white dwarf that produced 0.108 M-circle dot of Ni-56. Our modeling suggests that the narrow [Ca II] features observed in the nebular spectrum are associated with Ca-48 from electron capture during the explosion, which is expected to occur only in white dwarfs that explode near or at the M-Ch limit.
|
|
| 9. |
- Gall, E. E. E., et al.
(författare)
-
An updated Type II supernova Hubble diagram
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 611
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present photometry and spectroscopy of nine Type II-P/L supernovae (SNe) with redshifts in the 0.045 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 0.335 range, with a view to re-examining their utility as distance indicators. Specifically, we apply the expanding photosphere method (EPM) and the standardized candle method (SCM) to each target, and find that both methods yield distances that are in reasonable agreement with each other. The current record-holder for the highest-redshift spectroscopically confirmed supernova (SN) II-P is PS1-13bni (z = 0.335(-0 .012)(+ 0.009)), and illustrates the promise of Type II SNe as cosmological tools. We updated existing EPM and SCM Hubble diagrams by adding our sample to those previously published. Within the context of Type II SN distance measuring techniques, we investigated two related questions. First, we explored the possibility of utilising spectral lines other than the traditionally used Fe II lambda 5169 to infer the photospheric velocity of SN ejecta. Using local well-observed objects, we derive an epoch-dependent relation between the strong Balmer line and Fe II lambda 5169 velocities that is applicable 30 to 40 days post-explosion. Motivated in part by the continuum of key observables such as rise time and decline rates exhibited from II-P to II-L SNe, we assessed the possibility of using Hubble-flow Type II-L SNe as distance indicators. These yield similar distances as the Type II-P SNe. Although these initial results are encouraging, a significantly larger sample of SNe II-L would be required to draw definitive conclusions.
|
|
| 10. |
- Gall, E. E. E., et al.
(författare)
-
Applying the expanding photosphere and standardized candle methods to Type II-Plateau supernovae at cosmologically significant redshifts
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 592
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on optical imaging and spectroscopy of the Type II-Plateau SN 2013eq, we present a comparative study of commonly used distance determination methods based on Type II supernovae. The occurrence of SN 2013eq in the Hubble flow (z = 0.041 +/- 0.001) prompted us to investigate the implications of the difference between angular and luminosity distances within the framework of the expanding photosphere method (EPM) that relies upon a relation between flux and angular size to yield a distance. Following a re-derivation of the basic equations of the EPM for SNe at non-negligible redshifts, we conclude that the EPM results in an angular distance. The observed flux should be converted into the SN rest frame and the angular size, theta, has to be corrected by a factor of (1 + z)(2). Alternatively, the EPM angular distance can be converted to a luminosity distance by implementing a modification of the angular size. For SN 2013eq, we find EPM luminosity distances of D-L = 151 +/- 18 Mpc and D-L = 164 +/- 20 Mpc by making use of different sets of dilution factors taken from the literature. Application of the standardized candle method for Type II-P SNe results in an independent luminosity distance estimate (D-L = 168 +/- 16 Mpc) that is consistent with the EPM estimate.
|
|
