In:
The Astrophysical Journal, American Astronomical Society, Vol. 902, No. 1 ( 2020-10-01), p. 46-
Abstract:
The nondetection of companion stars in SN Ia progenitor systems lends support to the notion of double-degenerate systems and explosions triggered by the merging of two white dwarfs. This very asymmetric process should lead to a conspicuous polarimetric signature. By contrast, observations consistently find very low continuum polarization as the signatures from the explosion process largely dominate over the pre-explosion configuration within several days. Critical information about the interaction of the ejecta with a companion and any circumstellar matter is encoded in the early polarization spectra. In this study, we obtain spectropolarimetry of SN 2018gv with the ESO Very Large Telescope at −13.6 days relative to the B -band maximum light, or ∼5 days after the estimated explosion—the earliest spectropolarimetric observations to date of any SN Ia. These early observations still show a low continuum polarization (≲0.2%) and moderate line polarization (0.30% ± 0.04% for the prominent Si ii λ 6355 feature and 0.85% ± 0.04% for the high-velocity Ca component). The high degree of spherical symmetry implied by the low-line and continuum polarization at this early epoch is consistent with explosion models of delayed detonations and is inconsistent with the merger-induced explosion scenario. The dense UV and optical photometry and optical spectroscopy within the first ∼100 days after the maximum light indicate that SN 2018gv is a normal SN Ia with similar spectrophotometric behavior to SN 2011fe.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0004-637X
,
1538-4357
DOI:
10.3847/1538-4357/aba759
Language:
Unknown
Publisher:
American Astronomical Society
Publication Date:
2020
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2207648-7
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1473835-1
SSG:
16,12
Bookmarklink