N. Blagorodnova

A statistical analysis of circumstellar material in type Ia supernovae

A key tracer of the elusive progenitor systems of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is the detection of narrow blueshifted time-varying Na I D absorption lines, interpreted as evidence of circumstellar material surrounding the progenitor system. The origin of this material is controversial, but the simplest explanation is that it results from previous mass-loss in a system containing a white dwarf and a non-degenerate companion star. We present new single-epoch intermediate-resolution spectra of 17 low-redshift SNe Ia taken with XShooter on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope. Combining this sample with events from the literature, we confirm an excess (similar to 20 per cent) of SNe Ia displaying blueshifted narrow Na I D absorption features compared to redshifted Na I D features. The host galaxies of SNe Ia displaying blueshifted absorption profiles are skewed towards later-type galaxies, compared to SNe Ia that show no Na I D absorption and SNe Ia displaying blueshifted narrow Na I D absorption features have broader light curves. The strength of the Na I D absorption is stronger in SNe Ia displaying blueshifted Na I D absorption features than those without blueshifted features, and the strength of the blueshifted Na I D is correlated with the B - V colour of the SN at maximum light. This strongly suggests the absorbing material is local to the SN. In the context of the progenitor systems of SNe Ia, we discuss the significance of these findings and other recent observational evidence on the nature of SN Ia progenitors. We present a summary that suggests that there are at least two distinct populations of normal, cosmologically useful SNe Ia.

Gaia Data Release 1 - The photometric data

Context. This paper presents an overview of the photometric data that are part of the first Gaia data release. Aims. The principles of the processing and the main characteristics of the Gaia photometric data are presented. Methods. The calibration strategy is outlined briefly and the main properties of the resulting photometry are presented. Results. Relations with other broadband photometric systems are provided. The overall precision for the Gaia photometry is shown to be at the milli-magnitude level and has a clear potential to improve further in future releases.

Measuring nickel masses in Type Ia supernovae using cobalt emission in nebular phase spectra

The light curves of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are powered by the radioactive decay of 56Ni to 56Co at early times, and the decay of 56Co to 56Fe from ?60 d after explosion. We examine the evolution of the [Co?iii] ?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 56Co as a function of time. This result indicates both efficient local energy deposition from positrons produced in 56Co 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] ?5893 line and remove its well-behaved time dependence to infer the initial mass of 56Ni (MNi) produced in the explosion. We then examine 56Ni yields for different SN Ia ejected masses (Mej – calculated using the relation between light-curve width and ejected mass) and find that the 56Ni masses of SNe Ia fall into two regimes: for narrow light curves (low stretch s ? 0.7–0.9), MNi is clustered near MNi ? 0.4?M? and shows a shallow increase as Mej increases from ?1 to 1.4?M?; at high stretch, Mej clusters at the Chandrasekhar mass (1.4?M?) while MNi spans a broad range from 0.6 to 1.2?M?. This could constitute evidence for two distinct SN Ia explosion mechanisms.

iPTF16geu: A multiply imaged, gravitationally lensed type Ia supernova

Multiple images of a type Ia supernova General relativity indicates that any sufficiently massive object bends the path of light passing by it. This effect is known as gravitational lensing. Goobar et al. have identified a supernova that is strongly lensed by a foreground galaxy, causing it to be highly magnified and splitting the light into four separate images. What is more, it is a type Ia supernova, a well-studied variety with reliable properties that can be used to constrain models of the lensing. This distinctive object will enable cosmological measurements and can be used to probe the distribution of mass in the foreground galaxy. Science, this issue p. 291 Strong gravitational lensing of a type Ia supernova produces high magnification and multiple images. We report the discovery of a multiply imaged, gravitationally lensed type Ia supernova, iPTF16geu (SN 2016geu), at redshift z = 0.409. This phenomenon was identified because the light from the stellar explosion was magnified more than 50 times by the curvature of space around matter in an intervening galaxy. We used high-spatial-resolution observations to resolve four images of the lensed supernova, approximately 0.3 arc seconds from the center of the foreground galaxy. The observations probe a physical scale of ~1 kiloparsec, smaller than is typical in other studies of extragalactic gravitational lensing. The large magnification and symmetric image configuration imply close alignment between the lines of sight to the supernova and to the lens. The relative magnifications of the four images provide evidence for substructures in the lensing galaxy.

Common Envelope Ejection for a Luminous Red Nova in M101

We present the results of optical, near-infrared, and mid-infrared observations of M101 OT2015-1 (PSN J14021678+5426205), a luminous red transient in the Pinwheel galaxy (M101), spanning a total of 16 years. The light curve showed two distinct peaks with absolute magnitudes M_r ≤ -12.4 and M_r ≃ -12, on 2014 November 11 and 2015 February 17, respectively. The spectral energy distributions during the second maximum show a cool outburst temperature of ≈ 3700 K and low expansion velocities (≈-300 km s^(−1)) for the H i, Ca ii, Ba ii, and K i lines. From archival data spanning 15–8 years before the outburst, we find a single source consistent with the optically discovered transient, which we attribute to being the progenitor; it has properties consistent with being an F-type yellow supergiant with L ~ 8.7 x 10^4 L_⊙, T_(eff) ≈ 7000 K, and an estimated mass of M_1 = 18 ± 1 M_⊙. This star has likely just finished the H-burning phase in the core, started expanding, and is now crossing the Hertzsprung gap. Based on the combination of observed properties, we argue that the progenitor is a binary system, with the more evolved system overfilling the Roche lobe. Comparison with binary evolution models suggests that the outburst was an extremely rare phenomenon, likely associated with the ejection of the common envelope of a massive star. The initial mass of the primary fills the gap between the merger candidates V838 Mon (5−10 M_⊙) and NGC 4490-OT (30 M_⊙).

IPTF16fnl: A Faint and Fast Tidal Disruption Event in an E+A Galaxy

We present ground-based and Swift observations of iPTF16fnl, a likely tidal disruption event (TDE) discovered by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) survey at 66.6 Mpc. The light curve of the object peaked at an absolute mag M_g =- 17.2. The maximum bolometric luminosity (from optical and UV) was L_p ≃ (1.0 ± 0.15) x 10^(43) erg s^(−1), an order of magnitude fainter than any other optical TDE discovered so far. The luminosity in the first 60 days is consistent with an exponential decay, with L ∝ e^(-(t-t_0)/τ, where t_0 = 57631.0 (MJD) and τ ≃ 15 days. The X-ray shows a marginal detection at L_X = 2.4_(-1.1)^(1.9) x 10^(39) erg s^(−1) (Swift X-ray Telescope). No radio counterpart was detected down to 3σ, providing upper limits for monochromatic radio luminosities of vL_v < 2.3 x 10^(36) erg s^(−1) and vL_v < 1.7 x 10^(37) erg s^(−1) (Very Large Array, 6.1 and 22 GHz). The blackbody temperature, obtained from combined Swift UV and optical photometry, shows a constant value of 19,000 K. The transient spectrum at peak is characterized by broad He ii and Hα emission lines, with FWHMs of about 14,000 km s^(−1) and 10,000 km s^(−1), respectively. He i lines are also detected at λλ 5875 and 6678. The spectrum of the host is dominated by strong Balmer absorption lines, which are consistent with a post-starburst (E+A) galaxy with an age of ~650 Myr and solar metallicity. The characteristics of iPTF16fnl make it an outlier on both luminosity and decay timescales, as compared to other optically selected TDEs. The discovery of such a faint optical event suggests a higher rate of tidal disruptions, as low-luminosity events may have gone unnoticed in previous searches.

Revisiting Optical Tidal Disruption Events with iPTF16axa

We report the discovery by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) of a candidate tidal disruption event (TDE) iPTF16axa at z = 0.108 and present its broadband photometric and spectroscopic evolution from three months of follow-up observations with ground-based telescopes and Swift. The light curve is well fitted with a t^(−5/3) decay, and we constrain the rise time to peak to be <49 rest-frame days after disruption, which is roughly consistent with the fallback timescale expected for the ~5 × 10^6 M_⊙ black hole inferred from the stellar velocity dispersion of the host galaxy. The UV and optical spectral energy distribution is well described by a constant blackbody temperature of T ~ 3 × 10^4 K over the monitoring period, with an observed peak luminosity of 1.1 × 10^(44) erg s^(−1). The optical spectra are characterized by a strong blue continuum and broad He ii and Hα lines, which are characteristic of TDEs. We compare the photometric and spectroscopic signatures of iPTF16axa with 11 TDE candidates in the literature with well-sampled optical light curves. Based on a single-temperature fit to the optical and near-UV photometry, most of these TDE candidates have peak luminosities confined between log(L [erg s^(−1)]) = 43.4–44.4, with constant temperatures of a few ×10^4 K during their power-law declines, implying blackbody radii on the order of 10 times the tidal disruption radius, that decrease monotonically with time. For TDE candidates with hydrogen and helium emission, the high helium-to-hydrogen ratios suggest that the emission arises from high-density gas, where nebular arguments break down. We find no correlation between the peak luminosity and the black hole mass, contrary to the expectations for TDEs to have M ∝ M_(BH)^(-1/2).

Gaia16apd – a link between fast and slowly declining type I superluminous supernovae

We present ultraviolet (UV), optical and infrared photometry and optical spectroscopy of the type Ic superluminous supernova (SLSN) Gaia16apd (=SN 2016eay), covering its evolution from 26 d before the g-band peak to 234.1 d after the peak. Gaia16apd was followed as a part of the NOT Unbiased Transient Survey (NUTS). It is one of the closest SLSNe known (z = 0.102 ± 0.001), with detailed optical and UV observations covering the peak. Gaia16apd is a spectroscopically typical type Ic SLSN, exhibiting the characteristic blue early spectra with O II absorption, and reaches a peak M_g = −21.8 ± 0.1 mag. However, photometrically it exhibits an evolution intermediate between the fast and slowly declining type Ic SLSNe, with an early evolution closer to the fast-declining events. Together with LSQ12dlf, another SLSN with similar properties, it demonstrates a possible continuum between fast and slowly declining events. It is unusually UV-bright even for an SLSN, reaching a non-K-corrected Muvm_2 ≃ −23.3 mag, the only other type Ic SLSN with similar UV brightness being SN 2010gx. Assuming that Gaia16apd was powered by magnetar spin-down, we derive a period of P = 1.9 ± 0.2 ms and a magnetic field of B = 1.9 ± 0.2 × 10^(14) G for the magnetar. The estimated ejecta mass is between 8 and 16 M⊙, and the kinetic energy between 1.3 and 2.5 × 10^(52) erg, depending on opacity and assuming that the entire ejecta is swept up into a thin shell. Despite the early photometric differences, the spectra at late times are similar to slowly declining type Ic SLSNe, implying that the two subclasses originate from similar progenitors.

OGLE-2013-SN-079: A lonely supernova consistent with a helium shell detonation

Funded by FP7/2007-2013/ERC grant agreement [291222] (S.J.S.). We acknowledge support from STFC grant ST/L000709/1 (S.J.S., S.S.), TRR33 grant of DFG (S.T.), FP7/2007-2013 grant [267251] (N.E.R.), FP7/ERC grant [320360] (M.F.).

Black hole masses of tidal disruption event host galaxies

The mass of the central black hole in a galaxy that hosted a tidal disruption event (TDE) is an important parameter in understanding its energetics and dynamics. We present the first homogeneously measured black hole masses of a complete sample of 12 optically/UV-selected TDE host galaxies (down to ghost ≤ 22 mag and z = 0.37) in the Northern sky. The mass estimates are based on velocity dispersion measurements, performed on late time optical spectroscopic observations. We find black hole masses in the range of 3 × 10^5 M_⊙ ≤ M_(BH) ≤ 2 × 10^7 M_⊙. The TDE host galaxy sample is dominated by low-mass black holes (∼ 10^6 M_⊙), as expected from theoretical predictions. The blackbody peak luminosity of TDEs with M_(BH) ≤ 10^(7.1) M_⊙ is consistent with the Eddington limit of the supermassive black hole (SMBH), whereas the two TDEs with M_(BH) ≥ 10^(7.1) M_⊙ have peak luminosities below their SMBH Eddington luminosity, in line with the theoretical expectation that the fallback rate for M_(BH) ≥ 10^(7.1) M_⊙ is sub-Eddington. In addition, our observations suggest that TDEs around lower mass black holes evolve faster. These findings corroborate the standard TDE picture in 10^6 M_⊙ black holes. Our results imply an increased tension between observational and theoretical TDE rates. By comparing the blackbody emission radius with theoretical predictions, we conclude that the optical/UV emission is produced in a region consistent with the stream self-intersection radius of shallow encounters, ruling out a compact accretion disc as the direct origin of the blackbody radiation at peak brightness.