SUPER-LUMINOUS TYPE Ic SUPERNOVAE: CATCHING A MAGNETAR BY THE TAIL

By C. Inserra, S. Smartt, A. Jerkstrand, S. Valenti, Morgan Fraser, D. Wright, Kenneth W. Smith, Ting-Wan Chen, R. Kotak, A. Pastorello and 30 more. 2013

287 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We report extensive observational data for five of the lowest redshift Super-Luminous Type Ic Supernovae (SL-SNe Ic) discovered to date, namely, PTF10hgi, SN2011ke, PTF11rks, SN2011kf, and SN2012il. Photometric imaging of the transients at +50 to +230 days after peak combined with host galaxy subtraction reveals a luminous tail phase for four of these SL-SNe. A high-resolution, optical, and near-infrared spectrum from xshooter provides detection of a broad He i λ10830 emission line in the spectrum (+50 days) of SN2012il, revealing that at least some SL-SNe Ic are not completely helium-free. At first sight, the tail luminosity decline rates that we measure are consistent with the radioactive decay of 56Co, and would require 1–4 M☉ of 56Ni to produce the luminosity. These 56Ni masses cannot be made consistent with the short diffusion times at peak, and indeed are insufficient to power the peak luminosity. We instead favor energy deposition by newborn magnetars as the power source for these objects. A semi-analytical diffusion model with energy input from the spin-down of a magnetar reproduces the extensive light curve data well. The model predictions of ejecta velocities and temperatures which are required are in reasonable agreement with those determined from our observations. We derive magnetar energies of 0.4 ≲ E(1051 erg) ≲ 6.9 and ejecta masses of 2.3 ≲ Mej(M☉) ≲ 8.6. The sample of five SL-SNe Ic presented here, combined with SN 2010gx—the best sampled SL-SNe Ic so far—points toward an explosion driven by a magnetar as a viable explanation for all SL-SNe Ic.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/6ca961abcd202d2131c41d626b2ff44f437a6bec

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. E. Berger
2. Bing Zhang
3. B. Metzger
4. S. Smartt
5. N. Smith
6. Stan Woosley
7. A. Filippenko
8. Ryan Chornock

Citations in the corpus

• The diversity of transients from magnetar birth in core collapse supernovae (2015, unknown): “In light of GRB 111209A/SN2011kl and ASASSN-15lh, as well as the rapidly growing sample of SLSNe-I (e.g., Inserra et al. 2013, Nicholl et al. 2014), we revisit the range of observational signatures of magnetar birth, placing GRBs and SLSNe-I within a common framework.”
• The Observer's Guide to the Gamma-Ray Burst-Supernova Connection (2016, background): “Instead the luminosity of SLSNe appears to be either driven by energy input from a magnetar [226, 227] or powered by the interaction between SN ejecta and the CSM, which is the likely mechanism for SNe IIn.”
• THE ULTRAVIOLET-BRIGHT, SLOWLY DECLINING TRANSIENT PS1-11af AS A PARTIAL TIDAL DISRUPTION EVENT (2013, background): “Other objects show Fe II features in the rest-frame optical (e.g., Inserra et al. 2013) and even evolve to resemble normal SNe Ic (Pastorello et al. 2010; Quimby et al. 2011).”
• Pulsational Pair-instability Supernovae (2016, background): “While it seems increasingly likely that many SLSN are indeed illuminated by magnetars (Inserra et al. 2013, and references therein), that possibility is not explored here because of the additional complexity and uncertain parameters required for a model that provides both a prompt hyperenergetic…”
• Spectroscopy of superluminous supernova host galaxies. A preference of hydrogen-poor events for extreme emission line galaxies (2014, background): “It has been widely suggested that H-poor SLSNe are powered by the spin-down of a rapidly rotating magnetar (Kasen & Bildsten 2010; Inserra et al. 2013; Nicholl et al. 2013; Lunnan et al. 2014a), although the modulations seen in the light curves of individual events (e.g. Leloudas et al. 2012;…”
• The Magnetar Model for Type I Superluminous Supernovae. I. Bayesian Analysis of the Full Multicolor Light-curve Sample with MOSFiT (2017, methodology): “This parameter simply allows us to extend our fits to later times, where other photospheric models based on determining the optical depth break down (Inserra et al. 2013).”
• ASASSN-14ae: a tidal disruption event at 200 Mpc (2014, background): “…which typically exhibit a temperature that drops considerably within days of the explosion along with either a relatively constant luminosity (Type IIP; e.g., Botticella et al. 2010) or a declining luminosity (Type IIn, IIL, Ic; e.g., Miller et al. 2009; Inserra et al. 2013; Graham et al. 2014).”
• The Cow: Discovery of a Luminous, Hot, and Rapidly Evolving Transient (2018, methodology): “We also investigated powering of AT2018cow by the highly-magnetized rapidly rotating neutron star (magnetar) models of Kasen & Bildsten (2010) as formulated in Inserra et al. (2013).”
• A systematic search for changing-look quasars in SDSS (2015, background): “For each exposure, the PS1 3π survey has a typical 5σ depth of 22.0 in the g-band (Inserra et al. 2013).”
• Six months of multiwavelength follow-up of the tidal disruption candidate asassn-14li and implied tde rates from asas-sn (2015, background): “…ASASSN-14li were a supernova (which typically show rapidly declining temperatures along with constant or declining luminosity (e.g., Miller et al. 2009; Botticella et al. 2010; Inserra et al. 2013; Graham et al. 2014), providing evidence that ASASSN-14li is a better match to a TDE than a supernova.”
• BRIGHT “MERGER-NOVA” FROM THE REMNANT OF A NEUTRON STAR BINARY MERGER: A SIGNATURE OF A NEWLY BORN, MASSIVE, MILLISECOND MAGNETAR (2013, methodology): “Based on the derived magnetar parameters by fitting the SGRB X-ray plateau feature (Rowlinson et al. 2013) and fitting the superluminous supernovae (Inserra et al. 2013), we adopt the following parameters as reference values: B14 = 5 and Pi,−3 = 5, which give Lsd,i = 1.2 × 1046 erg s−1 and tmd =…”
• On the diversity of superluminous supernovae: ejected mass as the dominant factor (2015, methodology): “Comparisons with data have shown that magnetar engines and circumstellar interaction can both reproduce the range of shapes of SLSN light curves and distinguishing between them has been problematic (Chatzopoulos et al. 2013; Inserra et al. 2013; Nicholl et al. 2014).”
• PESSTO: survey description and products from the first data release by the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects (2014, background): “…wide-field searching produces large numbers of transients that can be filtered for objects at the extreme end of the supernova luminosity distribution (e.g. Drake et al. 2010; Pastorello et al. 2010; Inserra et al. 2013) and luminous transient events in the cores of galaxies (Drake et al. 2011).”
• An Embedded X-Ray Source Shines through the Aspherical AT 2018cow: Revealing the Inner Workings of the Most Luminous Fast-evolving Optical Transients (2018, background): “This strong B field is in the range of “magnetars” normally invoked as central engines of GRBs (Metzger et al. 2011), but larger than those inferred for SLSNe, which typically require Bd∼10 14 G (e.g., Kasen & Bildsten 2010; Inserra et al. 2013; Nicholl et al. 2017).”
• HYDROGEN-POOR SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE AND LONG-DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURSTS HAVE SIMILAR HOST GALAXIES (2013, background): “…H-poor SLSNe in the scenario where the energy source is a magnetar: in order to reproduce the observed time scales and luminosities, rapid initial neutron star spin is required, as well as a strong magnetic field (Kasen & Bildsten 2010; Chomiuk et al. 2011; Lunnan et al. 2013; Inserra et al. 2013).”
• COSMOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS FROM MEASUREMENTS OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE DISCOVERED DURING THE FIRST 1.5 yr OF THE Pan-STARRS1 SURVEY (2013, methodology): “In parallel, we are also exploiting the Pan-STARRS1 3π survey for detection of brighter transients at lower redshifts (Pastorello et al. 2010; Valenti et al. 2012; Inserra et al. 2013).”
• ASASSN-15oi: a rapidly evolving, luminous tidal disruption event at 216 Mpc (2016, result): “…and luminosity evolution is inconsistent with what would be expected if ASASSN-15oi were a supernova, which typically exhibit rapidly declining temperatures along with constant or declining luminosity (e.g., Miller et al. 2009; Botticella et al. 2010; Inserra et al. 2013; Graham et al. 2014).”