Dust Formation and He II λ4686 Emission in the Dense Shell of the Peculiar Type Ib Supernova 2006jc

By N. Smith, R. Foley, A. Filippenko. 2007

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We present evidence for the formation of dust grains in an unusual Type Ib supernova (SN) based on late-time spectra of SN 2006jc. The progenitor suffered an outburst qualitatively similar to those of luminous blue variables (LBVs) just 2 yr prior to the SN, and we propose that the dust formation is a consequence of the SN blast wave overtaking that LBV-like shell. The key evidence for dust formation is (1) the appearance of a red/near-infrared continuum emission source that can be fit by T ≈ 1600 K graphite grains, and (2) fading of the redshifted sides of intermediate-width He I emission lines, yielding progressively more asymmetric blueshifted lines as dust obscures receding material. This provides the strongest case yet for dust formation in any SN Ib/c. Both developments occurred between 51 and 75 days after peak brightness, while the few other SNe observed to form dust did so after a few hundred days. Geometric considerations indicate that dust formed in the dense swept-up shell between the forward and reverse shocks, and not in the freely expanding SN ejecta. The rapid cooling leading to dust formation may have been aided by extremely high shell densities of 1010 cm−3, indicated by He I line ratios. The brief epoch of dust formation is accompanied by He II λ4686 emission and enhanced X-ray emission, suggesting a common link. These clues imply that the unusual dust formation in this object was not attributable to properties of the SN itself, but instead—like most peculiarities of SN 2006jc—was a consequence of interaction with the dense environment created by an LBV-like eruption 2 yr before the SN.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8bce4ee5acf2a0e51802475f3701ca1d5fc7baa7

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. S. Smartt
2. N. Smith
3. A. Filippenko
4. E. Berger
5. Ryan Chornock
6. Weidong Li
7. J. Silverman
8. R. Kirshner

Citations in the corpus

• FROM SHOCK BREAKOUT TO PEAK AND BEYOND: EXTENSIVE PANCHROMATIC OBSERVATIONS OF THE TYPE Ib SUPERNOVA 2008D ASSOCIATED WITH SWIFT X-RAY TRANSIENT 080109 (2008, background): “%) for certain SNe at late time (>20 day) (Tominaga et al. 2005; Tomita et al. 2006; Modjaz 2007), and even larger for dust-producing SNe (SN 2006jc, e.g., Smith et al. 2008; Di Carlo et al. 2008; Modjaz 2007).”
• SN 2006tf: Precursor Eruptions and the Optically Thick Regime of Extremely Luminous Type IIn Supernovae (2008, background): “…in the spectrum of SN 2005ap (Quimby et al. 2007a), and the difficulty in reconciling the energy budget of SN 2006gy with its relatively weak CSM interaction signatures (Smith et al. 2007, 2008b), the strong CSM signatures and comparably high luminosity of SN 2006tf are of significant interest.”
• SN 2008S: An electron-capture SN from a super-AGB progenitor? (2009, background): “Smith et al. (2008) have interpreted SN 2008S as a SN impostor analogous to the eruptions of LBVs.”
• HIGH-DENSITY CIRCUMSTELLAR INTERACTION IN THE LUMINOUS TYPE IIn SN 2010jl: THE FIRST 1100 DAYS (2013, background): “Also in objects where there indeed are strong indications for dust formation, like SN 1998S and SN 2006jc, the line profiles are less centrally peaked and more irregular (Leonard et al. 2000; Pozzo et al. 2004; Fransson et al. 2005; Smith et al. 2008a).”
• DUST AND THE TYPE II-PLATEAU SUPERNOVA 2004dj (2009, background): “CDS dust has been invoked as the origin of the early-time IR excess of SN 2006jc (Smith et al. 2008; Di Carlo et al. 2008; Mattila et al. 2008).”
• Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium. I. Type Ibn (SN 2006jc-like) events (2008, methodology): “6 and Smith et al. 2008).”
• A PANCHROMATIC VIEW OF THE RESTLESS SN 2009ip REVEALS THE EXPLOSIVE EJECTION OF A MASSIVE STAR ENVELOPE (2013, background): “A clear spectroscopic signature of dust formation is the development of highly asymmetric and blue-shifted line profiles (see e.g. Smith et al. 2008, their Fig.”
• The Unprecedented Third Outburst of SN 2009ip: A Luminous Blue Variable Becomes a Supernova (2012, background): “While LBVs provide the only known precedent for the eruptive pre-SN mass loss needed to make luminous SNe IIn (e.g., Smith et al. 2010a, 2008a), this suggestion has been controversial because it directly contradicts current expectations of standard stellar evolution models (Heger et al. 2003;…”
• OPTICAL SPECTRA OF 73 STRIPPED-ENVELOPE CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE (2014, background): “…SN 2006jc was a well-observed SN since it was a peculiar SN Ib with He lines in emission, indicating interaction between the SN ejecta and a dense helium shell (e.g., Foley et al. 2007; Pastorello et al. 2007; Immler et al. 2007) and early onset of dust production (e.g., Smith et al. (2008).”
• Observed Fractions of Core-Collapse Supernova Types and Initial Masses of their Single and Binary Progenitor Stars (2010, background): “…interaction in SNe IIn indicate that heavy mass-loss sometimes occurs shortly before core collapse (e.g. Chugai et al. 2004; Smith & McCray 2007; Smith et al. 2007, 2008b, 2010); if heavy mass-loss is concentrated in brief events during the last few thousand years before core collapse, then the…”