Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published November 20, 2013 | Published + Submitted
Journal Article Open

PTF 12gzk—A Rapidly Declining, High-velocity Type Ic Radio Supernova

Abstract

Only a few cases of Type Ic supernovae (SNe) with high-velocity ejecta (≥0.2 c) have been discovered and studied. Here, we present our analysis of radio and X-ray observations of the Type Ic SN PTF 12gzk. The radio emission declined less than 10 days after explosion, suggesting SN ejecta expanding at high velocity (~0.3 c). The radio data also indicate that the density of the circumstellar material (CSM) around the supernova is lower by a factor of ~10 than the CSM around normal Type Ic SNe. PTF 12gzk may therefore be an intermediate event between a "normal" SN Ic and a gamma-ray-burst-SN-like event. Our observations of this rapidly declining radio SN at a distance of 58 Mpc demonstrates the potential to detect many additional radio SNe, given the new capabilities of the Very Large Array (improved sensitivity and dynamic scheduling), which are currently missed, leading to a biased view of radio SNe Ic. Early optical discovery followed by rapid radio observations would provide a full description of the ejecta velocity distribution and CSM densities around stripped massive star explosions as well as strong clues about the nature of their progenitor stars.

Additional Information

© 2013 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2013 June 17; accepted 2013 September 15; published 2013 November 6. We thank the VLA, Swift, and CARMA staff for promptly scheduling this target of opportunity. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. This work made use of data supplied by the UK Swift Science Data Centre at the University of Leicester. PTF is a fully automated, wide-field survey aimed at a systematic exploration of explosions and variable phenomena in optical wavelengths. The participating institutions are Caltech, Columbia University, Weizmann Institute of Science, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Oxford, and University of California at Berkeley. The program is centered on a 12K×8K, 7.8 deg2 CCD array (CFH12K) re-engineered for the 1.2 m Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory by Caltech Optical Observatories. Photometric follow-up is undertaken by the automated Palomar 1.5 m telescope. The research of A.G. is supported by grants from the ISF, BSF, GIF, and Minerva, the EU/FP7 via an ERC grant, and the Kimmel award for innovative investigation.

Attached Files

Published - 0004-637X_778_1_63.pdf

Submitted - 1306.5755.pdf

Files

0004-637X_778_1_63.pdf
Files (392.3 kB)
Name Size Download all
md5:74e576f595841c72e8bf828e4f80b97d
234.0 kB Preview Download
md5:433b2f65331a02c2eb3ba59b17812d51
158.4 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 25, 2023