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1. The Early Light Curve of the Type Ia Supernova 2021hpr in NGC 3147: Progenitor Constraints with the Companion Interaction Model

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acc10c  

   Lim, Gu ; Im, Myungshin ; Paek, Gregory S. ; Yoon, Sung-Chul ; Choi, Changsu ; Kim, Sophia ; Wheeler, J. Craig ; Thomas, Benjamin P. ; Vinkó, Jozsef ; Kim, Dohyeong ; et al ( May 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract The progenitor system of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is expected to be a close binary system consisting of a carbon/oxygen white dwarf (WD) and a nondegenerate star or another WD. Here, we present results from high-cadence monitoring observations of SN 2021hpr in a spiral galaxy, NGC 3147, and constraints on the progenitor system based on its early multicolor light-curve data. First, we classify SN 2021hpr as a normal SN Ia from its long-term photometric and spectroscopic data. More interestingly, we found a significant “early excess” in the light curve over a simple power-law ∼ t 2 evolution. The early light curve evolves from blue to red to blue during the first week. To explain this, we fitted the early part of the BVRI -band light curves with a two-component model consisting of ejecta–companion interaction and a simple power-law model. The early excess and its color can be explained by shock-cooling emission due to a companion star having a radius of 8.84 ± 0.58 R ⊙ . We also examined Hubble Space Telescope preexplosion images, finding no detection of a progenitor candidate, consistent with the above result. However, we could not detect signs of a significant amount of stripped mass from a nondegenerate companion star (≲0.003 M ⊙ for H α emission). The early excess light in the multiband light curve supports a nondegenerate companion in the progenitor system of SN 2021hpr. At the same time, the nondetection of emission lines opens the door for other methods to explain this event. 

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2. Constraining Type Iax supernova progenitor systems with stellar population age dating

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa294  

   Takaro, Tyler ; Foley, Ryan J ; McCully, Curtis ; Fong, Wen-fai ; Jha, Saurabh W ; Narayan, Gautham ; Rest, Armin ; Stritzinger, Maximilian ; McKinnon, Kevin ( March 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT Type Iax supernovae (SNe Iax) are the most common class of peculiar SNe. While they are thought to be thermonuclear white-dwarf (WD) SNe, SNe Iax are observationally similar to, but distinct from SNe Ia. Unlike SNe Ia, where roughly 30 per cent occur in early-type galaxies, only one SN Iax has been discovered in an early-type galaxy, suggesting a relatively short delay time and a distinct progenitor system. Furthermore, one SN Iax progenitor system has been detected in pre-explosion images with its properties consistent with either of two models: a short-lived (<100 Myr) progenitor system consisting of a WD primary and a He-star companion, or a singular Wolf–Rayet progenitor star. Using deep Hubble Space Telescope images of nine nearby SN Iax host galaxies, we measure the properties of stars within 200 pc of the SN position. The ages of local stars, some of which formed with the SN progenitor system, can constrain the time between star formation and SN, known as the delay time. We compare the local stellar properties to synthetic photometry of single-stellar populations, fitting to a range of possible delay times for each SN. With this sample, we uniquely constrain the delay-time distribution for SNe Iax, with a median and 1σ confidence interval delay time of $63_{- 15}^{+ 58} \times 10^{6}$ yr. The measured delay-time distribution provides an excellent constraint on the progenitor system for the class, indicating a preference for a WD progenitor system over a Wolf–Rayet progenitor star. 

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3. A hierarchical Bayesian SED model for Type Ia supernovae in the optical to near-infrared

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3496  

   Mandel, Kaisey S. ; Thorp, Stephen ; Narayan, Gautham ; Friedman, Andrew S. ; Avelino, Arturo ( December 2021 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   While conventional Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) cosmology analyses rely primarily on rest-frame optical light curves to determine distances, SNe Ia are excellent standard candles in near-infrared (NIR) light, which is significantly less sensitive to dust extinction. An SN Ia spectral energy distribution (SED) model capable of fitting rest-frame NIR observations is necessary to fully leverage current and future SN Ia data sets from ground- and space-based telescopes including HST, LSST, JWST, and RST. We construct a hierarchical Bayesian model for SN Ia SEDs, continuous over time and wavelength, from the optical to NIR (B through H, or $0.35{-}1.8\, \mu$m). We model the SED as a combination of physically distinct host galaxy dust and intrinsic spectral components. The distribution of intrinsic SEDs over time and wavelength is modelled with probabilistic functional principal components and the covariance of residual functions. We train the model on a nearby sample of 79 SNe Ia with joint optical and NIR light curves by sampling the global posterior distribution over dust and intrinsic latent variables, SED components and population hyperparameters. Photometric distances of SNe Ia with NIR data near maximum obtain a total RMS error of 0.10 mag with our BayeSN model, compared to 0.13–0.14 mag with SALT2 and SNooPy for the same sample. Jointly fitting the optical and NIR data of the full sample up to moderate reddening (host E(B − V) < 0.4) for a global host dust law, we find RV = 2.9 ± 0.2, consistent with the Milky Way average.

    

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4. Cosmological Results from the RAISIN Survey: Using Type Ia Supernovae in the Near Infrared as a Novel Path to Measure the Dark Energy Equation of State

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac755b  

   Jones, D. O. ; Mandel, K. S. ; Kirshner, R. P. ; Thorp, S. ; Challis, P. M. ; Avelino, A. ; Brout, D. ; Burns, C. ; Foley, R. J. ; Pan, Y. -C. ; et al ( July 2022 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are more precise standardizable candles when measured in the near-infrared (NIR) than in the optical. With this motivation, from 2012 to 2017 we embarked on the RAISIN program with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to obtain rest-frame NIR light curves for a cosmologically distant sample of 37 SNe Ia (0.2 ≲z≲ 0.6) discovered by Pan-STARRS and the Dark Energy Survey. By comparing higher-zHST data with 42 SNe Ia atz< 0.1 observed in the NIR by the Carnegie Supernova Project, we construct a Hubble diagram from NIR observations (with only time of maximum light and some selection cuts from optical photometry) to pursue a unique avenue to constrain the dark energy equation-of-state parameter,w. We analyze the dependence of the full set of Hubble residuals on the SN Ia host galaxy mass and find Hubble residual steps of size ∼0.06-0.1 mag with 1.5σ−2.5σsignificance depending on the method and step location used. Combining our NIR sample with cosmic microwave background constraints, we find 1 +w= −0.17 ± 0.12 (statistical + systematic errors). The largest systematic errors are the redshift-dependent SN selection biases and the properties of the NIR mass step. We also use these data to measureH₀= 75.9 ± 2.2 km s⁻¹Mpc⁻¹from stars with geometric distance calibration in the hosts of eight SNe Ia observed in the NIR versusH₀= 71.2 ± 3.8 km s⁻¹Mpc⁻¹using an inverse distance ladder approach tied to Planck. Using optical data, we find 1 +w= −0.10 ± 0.09, and with optical and NIR data combined, we find 1 +w= −0.06 ± 0.07; these shifts of up to ∼0.11 inwcould point to inconsistency in the optical versus NIR SN models. There will be many opportunities to improve this NIR measurement and better understand systematic uncertainties through larger low-zsamples, new light-curve models, calibration improvements, and eventually by building high-zsamples from the Roman Space Telescope.

    

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5. Binaries drive high Type Ia supernova rates in dwarf galaxies

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad3019  

   Johnson, James W. ; Kochanek, Christopher S. ; Stanek, K. Z. ( October 2023 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   The scaling of the specific Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) rate with host galaxy stellar mass $\dot{\text{N}}_\text{Ia} / \text{M}_\star \sim \text{M}_\star ^{-0.3}$ as measured in ASAS-SN and DES strongly suggests that the number of SNe Ia produced by a stellar population depends inversely on its metallicity. We estimate the strength of the required metallicity dependence by combining the average star formation histories (SFHs) of galaxies as a function of their stellar mass with the mass–metallicity relation (MZR) for galaxies and common parametrizations for the SN Ia delay-time distribution. The differences in SFHs can account for only ∼30 per cent of the increase in the specific SN Ia rate between stellar masses of M⋆ = 1010 and 107.2 M⊙. We find that an additional metallicity dependence of approximately ∼Z−0.5 is required to explain the observed scaling. This scaling matches the metallicity dependence of the close binary fraction observed in APOGEE, suggesting that the enhanced SN Ia rate in low-mass galaxies can be explained by a combination of their more extended SFHs and a higher binary fraction due to their lower metallicities. Due to the shape of the MZR, only galaxies below M⋆ ≈ 3 × 109 M⊙ are significantly affected by the metallicity-dependent SN Ia rates. The $\dot{\text{N}}_\text{Ia} / \text{M}_\star \sim \text{M}_\star ^{-0.3}$ scaling becomes shallower with increasing redshift, dropping by factor of ∼2 at 107.2 M⊙ between z = 0 and 1 with our ∼Z−0.5 scaling. With metallicity-independent rates, this decrease is a factor of ∼3. We discuss the implications of metallicity-dependent SN Ia rates for one-zone models of galactic chemical evolution.

    

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