A SPECTROSCOPICALLY NORMAL TYPE Ic SUPERNOVA FROM A VERY MASSIVE PROGENITOR

• We present observations of the Type Ic supernova (SN Ic) 2011bm spanning a period of about one year. The data establish that SN 2011bm is a spectroscopically normal SN Ic with moderately low ejecta velocities and with a very slow spectroscopic and photometric evolution (more than twice as slow as SN 1998bw). The Pan-STARRS1 retrospective detection shows that the rise time from explosion to peak was similar to 40 days in the R band. Through an analysis of the light curve and the spectral sequence, we estimate a kinetic energy of similar to 7-17 foe and a total ejected mass of similar to 7-17 M-circle dot, 5-10 M-circle dot of which is oxygen and 0.6-0.7 M-circle dot is Ni-56. The physical parameters obtained for SN 2011bm suggest that its progenitor was a massive star of initial mass 30-50 M-circle dot. The profile of the forbidden oxygen lines in the nebular spectra shows no evidence of a bi-polar geometry in the ejected material.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

supernovae: general

supernovae: individual (SN 2011bm)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)