Supernovae in Low-Redshift Galaxy Clusters: The Type Ia Supernova Rate
Abstract
Supernova (SN) rates are a potentially powerful diagnostic of star formation history (SFH), metal enrichment, and SN physics, particularly in galaxy clusters with their deep, metal-retaining potentials and simple SFH. However, a low-redshift cluster SN rate has never been published. We derive the SN rate in galaxy clusters at 0.06 < z < 0.19, based on Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) that were discovered by the Wise Observatory Optical Transient Survey. As described in a separate paper, a sample of 140 rich Abell clusters was monitored, in which six cluster SNe Ia were found and confirmed spectroscopically. Here we determine the SN detection efficiencies of the individual survey images and combine the efficiencies with the known spectral properties of SNe Ia to calculate the effective visibility time of the survey. The cluster stellar luminosities are measured from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database in the griz SDSS bands. Uncertainties are estimated using Monte Carlo simulations in which all input parameters are allowed to vary over their known distributions. We derive SN rates normalized by stellar luminosity, in SNu (supernova units, SNe per century per 10^(10) L_⊙) in five photometric bandpasses, 0.36^(+0.22)_(-0.14) ± 0.02 (B), 0.351^(+0.210)_(-0.139) ± 0.020 (g), 0.288^(+0.172)_(-0.114) ± 0.018 (r), 0.229^(+0.137)_(-0.091) ± 0.014 (i), and 0.186^(+0.111)_(-0.074) ± 0.010 (z), where the quoted errors are statistical and systematic, respectively. The SN rate per stellar mass unit, derived using a color-luminosity-mass relation, is 0.098^(+0.059)_(-0.039) ± 0.009 SNe (100 yr 10^(10) M_⊙)^(-1). The low cluster SN rates we find are similar to, and consistent with, the SN Ia rate in local elliptical galaxies.
Additional Information
© 2007 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2006 October 3; accepted 2007 January 29. We thank Derek Fox for assistance with the image calibration, Dovi Poznanski for help with synthetic photometry, and Eran Ofek and Ben Koester for numerous useful discussions. We are grateful to Louis DesRoches, Chung-Pei Ma, Michael Blanton, and David Hogg for input regarding BCG luminosities in the SDSS. The anonymous referee is thanked for useful comments and suggestions. This work was supported by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (D. M.). A. G. acknowledges support By NASA through Hubble Fellowship grant HST-HF-01158.01-A awarded by STScI, which is operated by AURA, Inc., for NASA, under contract NAS5-26555. A. V. F. is grateful for the support of National Science Foundation grants AST 03-07894 and AST 06-07485.Attached Files
Published - SHAapj07.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 16721
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20091117-082905322
- Israel Science Foundation
- HST-HF-01158.01-A
- NASA Hubble Fellowship
- NAS5-26555
- NASA
- AST 03-07894
- NSF
- AST 06-07485
- NSF
- Created
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2009-11-25Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field