Early and late time VLT spectroscopy of SN 2001el - Progenitor constraints for a type Ia supernova

By Seppo Mattila, P. Lundqvist, J. Sollerman, C. Kozma, Eddie Baron, C. Fransson, B. Leibundgut, K. Observatory, U. Oklahoma, Eső and 1 more. 2005

136 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We present early time high-resolution (VLT/UVES) and late time low-resolution (VLT/FORS) optical spectra of the normal type Ia supernova, SN 2001el. The high-resolution spectra were obtained 9 and 2 days before ( B -band) maximum light. This was in order to allow the detection of narrow hydrogen and/or helium emission lines from the circumstellar medium of the supernova. No such lines were detected in our data. We therefore use these spectra together with photoionisation models to derive upper limits of $9\times10^{-6} ~{M}_\odot~{\rm yr}^{-1}$ and $5\times10^{-5} ~{M}_\odot~{\rm yr}^{-1}$ for the mass loss rate from the progenitor system of SN 2001el assuming velocities of 10  km s -1  and 50  km s -1 , respectively, for a wind extending to outside at least a few $\times 10^{15}$ cm away from the supernova explosion site. So far, these are the best H α based upper limits obtained for a type Ia supernova, and exclude a symbiotic star in the upper mass loss rate regime (so called Mira type stars) from being the progenitor of SN 2001el. The low-resolution spectrum was obtained in the nebular phase of the supernova, ~400 days after the maximum light, to search for any hydrogen rich gas originating from the supernova progenitor system. However, we see no signs of Balmer lines in our spectrum. Therefore, we model the late time spectra to derive an upper limit of ~0.03 $M_{\odot}$ for solar abundance material present at velocities lower than 1000  km s -1  within the supernova explosion site. According to numerical simulations of Marietta et al. (2000) this is less than the expected mass lost by a subgiant, red giant or a main-sequence secondary star at a small binary separation as a result of the SN explosion. Our data therefore exclude these scenarios as the progenitor of SN 2001el. Finally, we discuss the origin of high velocity Ca II lines previously observed in a few type Ia supernovae before the maximum light. We see both the Ca II IR triplet and the H&K lines in our earliest (-9 days) spectrum at a very high velocity of up to ~34 000 km s -1 . The spectrum also shows a flat-bottomed Si II “6150 A” feature similar to the one previously observed in SN 1990N (Leibundgut et al. 1991, ApJ, 371, L23) at 14 days before maximum light. We compare these spectral features in SN 2001el to those observed in SN 1984A and SN 1990N at even higher velocities.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2dcae96c51067c9b7c5f27402b865e87cca6ad55

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. D. Maoz
2. F. Mannucci
3. N. Smith
4. A. Filippenko
5. S. Smartt
6. E. Berger
7. D. Kasen
8. Weidong Li

In Instrumentation

1. D. Maoz
2. F. Mannucci
3. A. Filippenko
4. R. Kirshner
5. Weidong Li
6. N. Smith
7. J. Silverman
8. G. Nelemans

Citations in the corpus

• Observational Clues to the Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae (2013, background): “3.4.1 Searches for surviving companions The donor star, in a SD scenario, will survive the explosion, and is likely to be identifiable by virtue of its anomalous velocity, rotation, composition, temperature, or luminosity (e.g., Canal, Méndez & Ruiz-Lapuente 2001; Liu et al. 2013b; Marietta, Burrow”
• VARIABLE SODIUM ABSORPTION IN A LOW-EXTINCTION TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA, (2009, methodology): “If we follow the calculations of Leonard (2007), such a luminosity corresponds to ∼ 0.025 M⊙ of solarabundance material in the circumstellar environment, in reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions (Marietta, Burrows, & Fryxell 2000; Mattila et al. 2005; Pakmor et al. 2008).”
• THE SPECTROSCOPIC DIVERSITY OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE (2000, unknown): “…et al. 2002 1999ee Hamuy et al. 2002a 2000E Valentini et al. 2003a 2000cx Li et al. 2001a 2001ay Krisciunas et al. 2011b 2001el Wang et al. 2003a, Mattila et al. 2005 2002bo Benetti et al. 2004a 2002dj Pignata et al. 2008a 2002er Kotak et al. 2005 2003cg Elias-Rosa et al. 2006a 2003du…”
• Comparative Direct Analysis of Type Ia Supernova Spectra. I. SN 1994D (2005, background): “Krisciunas et al. (2007) termed SN 2004S a clone of SN 2001el, another CN with exceptionally strong high-velocity Ca II features (Wang et al. 2003; Kasen et al. 2003; Mattila et al. 2005; Paper II).”
• Constraining the Type Ia Supernova Progenitor: The Search for Hydrogen in Nebular Spectra (2006, methodology): “However, detailed radiative transfer calculations performed by Mattila et al. (2005) predict that it should become visible at late times, when the outer ejecta have thinned out and become transparent enough to reveal the slower moving gas in the central regions.”
• Are the Models for Type Ia Supernova Progenitors Consistent with the Properties of Supernova Remnants? (2007, background): “…and other references listed in x 1), as well as the absence of low-velocity (narrow) lines from H in the early or late spectra of normal events (Mattila et al. 2005), suggests that the amount of circumstellar material in the immediate vicinity of Type Ia progenitors must be low (Eck et al.…”
• EVLA OBSERVATIONS CONSTRAIN THE ENVIRONMENT AND PROGENITOR SYSTEM OF Type Ia SUPERNOVA 2011fe (2012, background): “Early-time deep Hα observations of SN 2001el constrain the mass loss rate of the progenitor to Ṁ/vw < 10 −4 M⊙ yr −1 100 km s−1 (Mattila et al. 2005).”
• SN 2003du: 480 days in the life of a normal type Ia supernova (2007, background): “Mattila et al. (2005) suggest that the flat-bottomed shape of Si λ6355 in SN 2001el and its disappearance over a few days can be explained by the eff cts of scattering within a thin region moving at the continuum photospheric velocity, thus requiring no absorbing HV material to produce the line…”
• On the Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae (2018, unknown): “Models suggest that Pβ could be detected as early as one month after the explosion (e.g., Maeda, Kutsuna, & Shigeyama 2014), and Hα about six months after the explosion (e.g., Mattila et al. 2005).”
• SEEING THE COLLISION OF A SUPERNOVA WITH ITS COMPANION STAR (2009, background): “Meanwhile, several attempts to look for evidence of stripped hydrogen in the spectra of SNe Ia have detected nothing (Mattila et al. 2005; Leonard 2007).”