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Published October 21, 2018 | Published + Accepted Version
Journal Article Open

iPTF16abc and the population of Type Ia supernovae: comparing the photospheric, transitional, and nebular phases

Abstract

Key information about the progenitor system and the explosion mechanism of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) can be obtained from early observations, within a few days from explosion. iPTF16abc was discovered as a young SN Ia with excellent early time data. Here, we present photometry and spectroscopy of the SN in the nebular phase. A comparison of the early time data with a sample of SNe Ia shows distinct features, differing from normal SNe Ia at early phases but similar to normal SNe Ia at a few weeks after maximum light (i.e. the transitional phase) and well into the nebular phase. The transparency time-scales (t_0) for this sample of SNe Ia range between ∼25 and 41 d indicating a diversity in the ejecta masses. t_0 also weakly correlates with the peak bolometric luminosity, consistent with the interpretation that SNe with higher ejecta masses would produce more ^(56)Ni . Comparing the t_0 and the maximum luminosity, L_(max) distribution of a sample of SNe Ia to predictions from a wide range of explosion models we find an indication that the sub-Chandrasekhar mass models span the range of observed values. However, the bright end of the distribution can be better explained by Chandrasekhar mass delayed detonation models, hinting at multiple progenitor channels to explain the observed bolometric properties of SNe Ia. iPTF16abc appears to be consistent with the predictions from the M_(ch) models.

Additional Information

© 2018 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/about_us/legal/notices) Accepted 2018 July 9. Received 2018 June 11; in original form 2018 February 2. We would like to thank Peter Nugent for pointing us to the DECaLS photometry of iPTF16abc. We acknowledge fruitful comments from Jesper Sollerman. Funding from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Space Board, and the Knut & Alice (K&A) Wallenberg foundation made this research possible. A.A.M. is funded by the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Corporation in support of the Data Science Fellowship Program. This work made use of the Heidelberg Supernova Model Archive (HESMA), https://hesma.h-its.org.

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Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 19, 2023