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Hubble Space Telescope observations of the host galaxies and environments of calcium-rich supernovae

Lyman, J. D. ; Levan, A. J. ; James, P. A. ; Angus, C. R. ; Church, R. P. LU orcid ; Davies, M. B. LU and Tanvir, N. R. (2016) In Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 458(2). p.1768-1777
Abstract

Calcium-rich supernovae (SNe) represent a significant challenge for our understanding of the fates of stellar systems. They are less luminous than other SN types and they evolve more rapidly to reveal nebular spectra dominated by strong calcium lines with weak or absent signatures of other intermediate-and iron-group elements, which are seen in other SNe. Strikingly, their explosion sites also mark them out as distinct from other SN types. Their galactocentric offset distribution is strongly skewed to very large offsets (~1/3 are offset >20 kpc), meaning they do not trace the stellar light of their hosts. Many of the suggestions to explain this extreme offset distribution have invoked the necessity for unusual formation sites such as... (More)

Calcium-rich supernovae (SNe) represent a significant challenge for our understanding of the fates of stellar systems. They are less luminous than other SN types and they evolve more rapidly to reveal nebular spectra dominated by strong calcium lines with weak or absent signatures of other intermediate-and iron-group elements, which are seen in other SNe. Strikingly, their explosion sites also mark them out as distinct from other SN types. Their galactocentric offset distribution is strongly skewed to very large offsets (~1/3 are offset >20 kpc), meaning they do not trace the stellar light of their hosts. Many of the suggestions to explain this extreme offset distribution have invoked the necessity for unusual formation sites such as globular clusters or dwarf satellite galaxies, which are therefore difficult to detect. Building on previous work attempting to detect host systems of nearby Ca-rich SNe, we here present Hubble Space Telescope imaging of five members of the class three exhibiting large offsets and two coincident with the disc of their hosts. We find no underlying sources at the explosion sites of any of our sample. Combining with previous work, the lack of a host system now appears to be a ubiquitous feature amongst Ca-rich SNe. In this case the offset distribution is most readily explained as a signature of high-velocity progenitor systems that have travelled significant distances before exploding.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Supernovae: General
in
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
volume
458
issue
2
pages
10 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • wos:000374569600049
  • scopus:84963815536
ISSN
0035-8711
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stw477
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
70215cb4-a3f4-468f-b312-72aadf36e378
date added to LUP
2016-07-11 15:03:29
date last changed
2024-02-02 21:02:13
@article{70215cb4-a3f4-468f-b312-72aadf36e378,
  abstract     = {{<p>Calcium-rich supernovae (SNe) represent a significant challenge for our understanding of the fates of stellar systems. They are less luminous than other SN types and they evolve more rapidly to reveal nebular spectra dominated by strong calcium lines with weak or absent signatures of other intermediate-and iron-group elements, which are seen in other SNe. Strikingly, their explosion sites also mark them out as distinct from other SN types. Their galactocentric offset distribution is strongly skewed to very large offsets (~1/3 are offset &gt;20 kpc), meaning they do not trace the stellar light of their hosts. Many of the suggestions to explain this extreme offset distribution have invoked the necessity for unusual formation sites such as globular clusters or dwarf satellite galaxies, which are therefore difficult to detect. Building on previous work attempting to detect host systems of nearby Ca-rich SNe, we here present Hubble Space Telescope imaging of five members of the class three exhibiting large offsets and two coincident with the disc of their hosts. We find no underlying sources at the explosion sites of any of our sample. Combining with previous work, the lack of a host system now appears to be a ubiquitous feature amongst Ca-rich SNe. In this case the offset distribution is most readily explained as a signature of high-velocity progenitor systems that have travelled significant distances before exploding.</p>}},
  author       = {{Lyman, J. D. and Levan, A. J. and James, P. A. and Angus, C. R. and Church, R. P. and Davies, M. B. and Tanvir, N. R.}},
  issn         = {{0035-8711}},
  keywords     = {{Supernovae: General}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{1768--1777}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society}},
  title        = {{Hubble Space Telescope observations of the host galaxies and environments of calcium-rich supernovae}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw477}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/mnras/stw477}},
  volume       = {{458}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}