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Abstract SN 2021aefx is a normal Type Ia supernova (SN) showing excess emission and redward color evolution over the first ∼ 2 days. We present analyses of this SN using our high-cadence KMTNet multiband photometry, spectroscopy, and publicly available data, including first measurements of its explosion epoch (MJD 59529.32 ± 0.16) and onset of power-law rise (t PL= MJD 59529.85 ± 0.55; often calledfirst light ) associated with the main ejecta56Ni distribution. The first KMTNet detection of SN 2021aefx precedest PLby ∼ 0.5 hr, indicating presence of additional power sources. Our peak-spectrum confirms its intermediate Type Ia subclassification between core-normal and broad-Line, and we estimate an ejecta mass of ∼ 1.34M ⊙. The spectral evolution identifies material reaching >40,000 km s−1(fastest ever observed in Type Ia SNe) and at least two split-velocity ejecta components expanding homologously: (1) a normal-velocity (∼ 12,400 km s−1) component consistent with typical photospheric evolution of near-Chandrasekhar-mass ejecta; and (2) a high-velocity (∼ 23,500 km s−1) secondary component visible during the first ∼ 3.6 days post-explosion, which locates the component within the outer <16% of the ejecta mass. Asymmetric subsonic explosion processes producing a nonspherical secondary photosphere provide an explanation for the simultaneous appearance of the two components, and may also explain the excess emission via a slight56Ni enrichment in the outer ∼ 0.5% of the ejecta mass. Our 300 days post-peak nebular-phase spectrum advances constraints against nondegenerate companions and further supports a near-Chandrasekhar-mass explosion origin. Off-center ignited delayed-detonations are likely responsible for the observed features of SN 2021aefx in some normal Type Ia SNe. -
Abstract SN 2018aoz is a Type Ia SN with a
B -band plateau and excess emission in infant-phase light curves ≲1 day after the first light, evidencing an over-density of surface iron-peak elements as shown in our previous study. Here, we advance the constraints on the nature and origin of SN 2018aoz based on its evolution until the nebular phase. Near-peak spectroscopic features show that the SN is intermediate between two subtypes of normal Type Ia: core normal and broad line. The excess emission may be attributable to the radioactive decay of surface iron-peak elements as well as the interaction of ejecta with either the binary companion or a small torus of circumstellar material. Nebular-phase limits on Hα and Hei favor a white dwarf companion, consistent with the small companion size constrained by the low early SN luminosity, while the absence of [Oi ] and Hei disfavors a violent merger of the progenitor. Of the two main explosion mechanisms proposed to explain the distribution of surface iron-peak elements in SN 2018aoz, the asymmetric Chandrasekhar-mass explosion is less consistent with the progenitor constraints and the observed blueshifts of nebular-phase [Feii ] and [Niii ]. The helium-shell double-detonation explosion is compatible with the observed lack of C spectral features, but current 1D models are incompatible with the infant-phase excess emission, color, and weak strength of nebular-phase [Caii ]. Although the explosion processes of SN 2018aoz still need to be more precisely understood, the same processes could produce a significant fraction of Type Ia SNe that appear to be normal after ∼1 day.