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Title: SN 2008in-BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN NORMAL AND FAINT SUPERNOVAE OF TYPE IIP

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
; ; ;  [1]; ;  [2];  [3]; ;  [4];  [5];  [6]; ; ;  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [13]
  1. Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Manora Peak, Nainital 263 129 (India)
  2. Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Observatorio Astronomico di Padova (Italy)
  3. Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom)
  4. Randall Laboratory of Physics, University of Michigan, 450 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1040 (United States)
  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States)
  6. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Astrophysics Science Division, Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
  7. Special Astrophysical Observatory, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Karachaevo-Cherkesia 369167 (Russian Federation)
  8. Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen (Denmark)
  9. Department of Astronomy, University of Texas, Austin, TX 787120259 (United States)
  10. Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
  11. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
  12. Institut de Ciencies de L'Espai (IEEC-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Spain)
  13. Space Science and Engineering Division, 6220 Culebra Rd, San Antonio, TX 78238-5166 (United States)

We present optical photometric and low-resolution spectroscopic observations of the Type II plateau supernova (SN) 2008in, which occurred in the outskirts of the nearly face-on spiral galaxy M61. Photometric data in the X-ray, ultraviolet, and near-infrared bands have been used to characterize this event. The SN field was imaged with the ROTSE-IIIb optical telescope about seven days before the explosion. This allowed us to constrain the epoch of the shock breakout to JD = 2454825.6. The duration of the plateau phase, as derived from the photometric monitoring, was {approx}98 days. The spectra of SN 2008in show a striking resemblance to those of the archetypal low-luminosity IIP SNe 1997D and 1999br. A comparison of ejecta kinematics of SN 2008in with the hydrodynamical simulations of Type IIP SNe by Dessart et al. indicates that it is a less energetic event ({approx}5 x 10{sup 50} erg). However, the light curve indicates that the production of radioactive {sup 56}Ni is significantly higher than that in the low-luminosity SNe. Adopting an interstellar absorption along the SN direction of A{sub V} {approx} 0.3 mag and a distance of 13.2 Mpc, we estimated a synthesized {sup 56}Ni mass of {approx}0.015 M{sub sun}. Employing semi-analytical formulae derived by Litvinova and Nadezhin, we derived a pre-SN radius of {approx}126 R{sub sun}, an explosion energy of {approx}5.4 x 10{sup 50} erg, and a total ejected mass of {approx}16.7 M{sub sun}. The latter indicates that the zero-age main-sequence mass of the progenitor did not exceed 20 M{sub sun}. Considering the above properties of SN 2008in and its occurrence in a region of sub-solar metallicity ([O/H] {approx} 8.44 dex), it is unlikely that fall-back of the ejecta onto a newly formed black hole occurred in SN 2008in. We therefore favor a low-energy explosion scenario of a relatively compact, moderate-mass progenitor star that generates a neutron star.

OSTI ID:
21578286
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 736, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/736/2/76; ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English