OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE TYPE IA SUPERNOVA SN 2011fe IN M101 FOR NEARLY 500 DAYS
- Physics Department and Tsinghua Center for Astrophysics (THCA), Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084 (China)
- Yunnan Astronomical Observatory of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650011 (China)
- National Astronomical Observatory of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100012 (China)
- Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)
- Physics and Astronomy Department, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States)
We present well-sampled optical observations of the bright Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) SN 2011fe in M101. Our data, starting from ∼16 days before maximum light and extending to ∼463 days after maximum, provide an unprecedented time series of spectra and photometry for a normal SN Ia. Fitting the early-time rising light curve, we find that the luminosity evolution of SN 2011fe follows a t{sup n} law, with the index n being close to 2.0 in the VRI bands but slightly larger in the U and B bands. Combining the published ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NIR) photometry, we derive the contribution of UV/NIR emission relative to the optical. SN 2011fe is found to have stronger UV emission and reaches its UV peak a few days earlier than other SNe Ia with similar Δm{sub 15}(B), suggestive of less trapping of high-energy photons in the ejecta. Moreover, the U-band light curve shows a notably faster decline at late phases (t ≈ 100–300 days), which also suggests that the ejecta may be relatively transparent to UV photons. These results favor the notion that SN 2011fe might have a progenitor system with relatively lower metallicity. On the other hand, the early-phase spectra exhibit prominent high-velocity features (HVFs) of O i λ7773 and the Ca ii NIR triplet, but only barely detectable in Si ii 6355. This difference can be caused by either an ionization/temperature effect or an abundance enhancement scenario for the formation of HVFs; it suggests that the photospheric temperature of SN 2011fe is intrinsically low, perhaps owing to incomplete burning during the explosion of the white dwarf.
- OSTI ID:
- 22521397
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 820, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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