skip to main content


Title: Dust masses for a large sample of core-collapse supernovae from optical emission line asymmetries: dust formation on 30-year time-scales
ABSTRACT

Modelling the red–blue asymmetries seen in the broad emission lines of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) is a powerful technique to quantify total dust mass formed in the ejecta at late times (>5 yr after outburst) when ejecta dust temperatures become too low to be detected by mid-infrared (IR) instruments. Following our success in using the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code damocles to measure the dust mass evolution in SN 1987A and other CCSNe, we present the most comprehensive sample of dust mass measurements yet made with damocles, for CCSNe aged between 4 and 60 yr after outburst. Our sample comprises multi-epoch late-time optical spectra taken with the Gemini/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs (GMOS) and Very Large Telescope (VLT) X-Shooter spectrographs, supplemented by archival spectra. For the 14 CCSNe that we have modelled, we confirm a dust mass growth with time that can be fit by a sigmoid curve that is found to saturate beyond an age of ∼30 yr, at a mass of 0.23$^{+0.17}_{-0.12}$ M⊙. For an expanded sample including dust masses found in the literature for a further 11 CCSNe and six CCSN remnants, the dust mass at saturation is found to be 0.42$^{+0.09}_{-0.05}$ M⊙. Uncertainty limits for our dust masses were determined from a Bayesian analysis using the affine invariant Markov chain Monte Carlo ensemble sampler emcee with damocles. The best-fitting line profile models for our sample all required grain radii between 0.1 and 0.5 $\mu$m. Our results are consistent with CCSNe forming enough dust in their ejecta to significantly contribute to the dust budget of the Universe.

 
more » « less
Award ID(s):
2037297 1914448
PAR ID:
10369279
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Oxford University Press
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume:
515
Issue:
3
ISSN:
0035-8711
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 4302-4343
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ABSTRACT The large quantities of dust that have been found in a number of high-redshift galaxies have led to suggestions that core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) are the main sources of their dust and have motivated the measurement of the dust masses formed by local CCSNe. For Cassiopeia A (Cas A), an oxygen-rich remnant of a Type IIb CCSN, a dust mass of 0.6–1.1 M⊙ has already been determined by two different methods, namely (a) from its far-infrared spectral energy distribution and (b) from analysis of the red–blue emission line asymmetries in its integrated optical spectrum. We present a third, independent, method for determining the mass of dust contained within Cas A. This compares the relative fluxes measured in similar apertures from [O iii] far-infrared and visual-region emission lines, taking into account foreground dust extinction, in order to determine internal dust optical depths, from which corresponding dust masses can be obtained. Using this method, we determine a dust mass within Cas A of at least 0.99$^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$ M⊙. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract We present near-infrared (NIR) and optical observations of the Type Ic supernova (SN Ic) SN 2021krf obtained between days 13 and 259 at several ground-based telescopes. The NIR spectrum at day 68 exhibits a rising K -band continuum flux density longward of ∼2.0 μ m, and a late-time optical spectrum at day 259 shows strong [O i ] 6300 and 6364 Å emission-line asymmetry, both indicating the presence of dust, likely formed in the SN ejecta. We estimate a carbon-grain dust mass of ∼2 × 10 −5 M ⊙ and a dust temperature of ∼900–1200 K associated with this rising continuum and suggest the dust has formed in SN ejecta. Utilizing the one-dimensional multigroup radiation-hydrodynamics code STELLA, we present two degenerate progenitor solutions for SN 2021krf, characterized by C–O star masses of 3.93 and 5.74 M ⊙ , but with the same best-fit 56 Ni mass of 0.11 M ⊙ for early times (0–70 days). At late times (70–300 days), optical light curves of SN 2021krf decline substantially more slowly than those expected from 56 Co radioactive decay. Lack of H and He lines in the late-time SN spectrum suggests the absence of significant interaction of the ejecta with the circumstellar medium. We reproduce the entire bolometric light curve with a combination of radioactive decay and an additional powering source in the form of a central engine of a millisecond pulsar with a magnetic field smaller than that of a typical magnetar. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    Supernova (SN) 1987A is the nearest supernova in ∼400 yr. Using the JWST MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrograph, we spatially resolved the ejecta, equatorial ring (ER), and outer rings in the mid-infrared 12,927 days (35.4 yr) after the explosion. The spectra are rich in line and dust continuum emission, both in the ejecta and the ring. The broad emission lines (280–380 km s−1FWHM) that are seen from all singly-ionized species originate from the expanding ER, with properties consistent with dense post-shock cooling gas. Narrower emission lines (100–170 km s−1FWHM) are seen from species originating from a more extended lower-density component whose high ionization may have been produced by shocks progressing through the ER or by the UV radiation pulse associated with the original supernova event. The asymmetric east–west dust emission in the ER has continued to fade, with constant temperature, signifying a reduction in dust mass. Small grains in the ER are preferentially destroyed, with larger grains from the progenitor surviving the transition from SN into SNR. The ER dust is fit with a single set of optical constants, eliminating the need for a secondary featureless hot dust component. We find several broad ejecta emission lines from [Neii], [Arii], [Feii], and [Niii]. With the exception of [Feii] 25.99μm, these all originate from the ejecta close to the ring and are likely to be excited by X-rays from the interaction. The [Feii] 5.34 to 25.99μm line ratio indicates a temperature of only a few hundred K in the inner core, which is consistent with being powered by44Ti decay.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract The stellar cluster environment is expected to play a central role in the evolution of circumstellar disks. We use thermochemical modeling to constrain the dust and gas masses, disk sizes, UV and X-ray radiation fields, viewing geometries, and central stellar masses of 20 class II disks in the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). We fit a large grid of disk models to 350 GHz continuum, CO J = 3 − 2, and HCO + J = 4 − 3 Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of each target, and we introduce a procedure for modeling interferometric observations of gas disks detected in absorption against a bright molecular cloud background. We find that the ONC disks are massive and compact, with typical radii <100 au, gas masses ≥10 −3 M ⊙ , and gas-to-dust ratios ≥100. The interstellar‐medium‐like gas-to-dust ratios derived from our modeling suggest that compact, externally irradiated disks in the ONC are less prone to gas-phase CO depletion than the massive and extended gas disks that are commonly found in nearby low-mass star-forming regions. The presence of massive gas disks indicates that external photoevaporation may have only recently begun operating in the ONC; though it remains unclear whether other cluster members are older and more evaporated than the ones in our sample. Finally, we compare our dynamically derived stellar masses with the stellar masses predicted from evolutionary models and find excellent agreement. Our study has significantly increased the number of dynamical mass measurements in the mass range ≤0.5 M ⊙ , demonstrating that the ONC is an ideal region for obtaining large samples of dynamical mass measurements toward low-mass M-dwarfs. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract In recent years, many Type IIn supernovae have been found to share striking similarities with the peculiar SN 2009ip, whose true nature is still under debate. Here, we present 10 yr of observations of SN 2011fh, an interacting transient with spectroscopic and photometric similarities to SN 2009ip. SN 2011fh had an M r ∼ −16 mag brightening event, followed by a brighter M r ∼ −18 mag luminous outburst in 2011 August. The spectra of SN 2011fh are dominated by narrow to intermediate Balmer emission lines throughout its evolution, with P Cygni profiles indicating fast-moving material at ∼6400 km s −1 . HST/WFC3 observations from 2016 October revealed a bright source with M F814W ≈ −13.3 mag, indicating that we are seeing the ongoing interaction of the ejecta with the circumstellar material or that the star might be going through an eruptive phase five years after the luminous outburst of 2011. Using HST photometry of the stellar cluster around SN 2011fh, we estimated an age of ∼4.5 Myr for the progenitor, which implies a stellar mass of ∼60 M ⊙ , using single-star evolution models, or a mass range of 35–80 M ⊙ , considering a binary system. We also show that the progenitor of SN 2011fh exceeded the classical Eddington limit by a large factor in the months preceding the luminous outburst of 2011, suggesting strong super-Eddington winds as a possible mechanism for the observed mass loss. These findings favor an energetic outburst in a young and massive star, possibly a luminous blue variable. 
    more » « less