Lightcurves of Type Ia Supernovae from Near the Time of Explosion

Journal Article · Wed Aug 30 04:00:00 EDT 2006 · Astronomical Journal, vol. 133, no. 2, December 28, 2006, pp. 403

OSTI ID:900120

Garg, A; Stubbs, C W; Challis, P; Wood-Vasey, M; Blondin, S; Huber, M E; Cook, K; Nikolaev, S; Rest, A; Smith, R C; Olsen, K; Suntzeff, N B; Aguilera, C; Prieto, J L; Becker, A; Miceli, A; Miknaitis, G; Clocchiatti, A; Minniti, D; Morelli, L ; Welch, D

We present a set of 11 type Ia supernova (SN Ia) lightcurves with dense, pre-maximum sampling. These supernovae (SNe), in galaxies behind the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), were discovered by the SuperMACHO survey. The SNe span a redshift range of z = 0.11-0.35. Our lightcurves contain some of the earliest pre-maximum observations of SNe Ia to date. We also give a functional model that describes the SN Ia lightcurve shape (in our V R-band). Our function uses the ''expanding fireball'' model of Goldhaber et al. (1998) to describe the rising lightcurve immediately after explosion but constrains it to smoothly join the remainder of the lightcurve. We fit this model to a composite observed V R-band lightcurve of three SNe between redshifts of 0.135 to 0.165. These SNe have not been K-corrected or adjusted to account for reddening. In this redshift range, the observed V R-band most closely matches the rest frame V-band. Using the best fit to our functional description of the lightcurve, we find the time between explosion and observed V R-band maximum to be 19.2 {+-} 1.3-1.6 {+-} 0.07(red.) rest-frame days for a SN Ia with a V R-band {Delta}m{sub -10} of 0.52. For the redshifts sampled, the observed V R-band time-of-maximum brightness should be the same as the rest-frame V -band maximum to within 1.1 rest-frame days.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 900120
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JRNL-224121
• Journal Information: Astronomical Journal, vol. 133, no. 2, December 28, 2006, pp. 403, Journal Name: Astronomical Journal, vol. 133, no. 2, December 28, 2006, pp. 403
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
BRIGHTNESS
EXPLOSIONS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
FUNCTIONALS
GALAXIES
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
SAMPLING
SHAPE
SUPERNOVAE