SN 2010mb: Direct evidence for a supernova interacting with a large amount of hydrogen-free circumstellar material

Journal Article · Thu Apr 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/785/1/37· OSTI ID:22357175

Ben-Ami, Sagi; Gal-Yam, Avishay; Rabinak, Itay; Yaron, Ofer; Arcavi, Iair; Ofek, Eran O. ^[1]; Mazzali, Paolo A. ^[2]; Gnat, Orly ^[3]; Modjaz, Maryam ^[4]; Sullivan, Mark ^[5]; Bildsten, Lars ^[6]; Poznanski, Dovi ^[7]; Bloom, Joshua S.; Nugent, Peter E. ^[8]; Horesh, Assaf; Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.; Perley, Daniel ^[9]; Kasliwal, Mansi M. ^[10]; Quimby, Robert ^[11]; Xu, Dong ^[12]

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1. Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel)
2. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University. Liverpool L3 5RF (United Kingdom)
3. Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University, 91904 Jerusalem (Israel)
4. Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, room 529, New York, NY 10003 (United States)
5. Department of Physics (Astrophysics), University of Oxford, DWB, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
6. Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics Kohn Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)
7. School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978 Israel (Israel)
8. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)
9. Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
10. Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
11. Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan)
12. Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen (Denmark)

We present our observations of SN 2010mb, a Type Ic supernova (SN) lacking spectroscopic signatures of H and He. SN 2010mb has a slowly declining light curve (LC) (∼600 days) that cannot be powered by {sup 56}Ni/{sup 56}Co radioactivity, the common energy source for Type Ic SNe. We detect signatures of interaction with hydrogen-free circumstellar material including a blue quasi-continuum and, uniquely, narrow oxygen emission lines that require high densities (∼10{sup 9} cm{sup –3}). From the observed spectra and LC, we estimate that the amount of material involved in the interaction was ∼3 M {sub ☉}. Our observations are in agreement with models of pulsational pair-instability SNe described in the literature.

• OSTI ID: 22357175
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 785, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COBALT 56
DENSITY
EMISSION
ENERGY SOURCES
HYDROGEN
INSTABILITY
INTERACTIONS
MASS TRANSFER
NICKEL 56
OXYGEN
RADIOACTIVITY
SPECTRA
STELLAR WINDS
SUPERNOVAE
VISIBLE RADIATION