skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: VISIBILITY STACKING IN THE QUEST FOR TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA RADIO EMISSION

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal Letters
; ;  [1]
  1. Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

We describe the process of stacking radio interferometry visibilities to form a deep composite image and its application to the observation of transient phenomena. We apply 'visibility stacking' to 46 archival Very Large Array observations of nearby type Ia supernovae (SNeIa). This new approach provides an upper limit on the SNIa ensemble peak radio luminosity of 1.2 x 10{sup 25} erg s{sup -1} Hz{sup -1} at 5 GHz, which is 5-10 times lower than previously measured. This luminosity implies an upper limit on the average companion stellar wind mass-loss rate of 1.3 x 10{sup -7} M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}. This mass-loss rate is consistent with the double degenerate scenario for SNeIa and rules out intermediate- and high-mass companions in the single degenerate scenario. In the era of time domain astronomy, techniques such as visibility stacking will be important in extracting the maximum amount of information from observations of populations of short-lived events.

OSTI ID:
21562418
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 735, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/735/2/L35; ISSN 2041-8205
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English