ORCID Profile
0000-0003-3642-5484
Current Organisations
Pulkovo Observatory
,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 03-2023
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 H α and He i favor a white dwarf companion, consistent with the small companion size constrained by the low early SN luminosity, while the absence of [O i ] and He i 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 [Fe ii ] and [Ni ii ]. 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, B max – V max color, and weak strength of nebular-phase [Ca ii ]. 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.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 07-2022
Abstract: We present high-cadence optical and ultraviolet light curves of the normal Type Ia supernova (SN) 2021aefx, which shows an early bump during the first two days of observation. This bump may be a signature of interaction between the exploding white dwarf and a nondegenerate binary companion, or it may be intrinsic to the white dwarf explosion mechanism. In the case of the former, the short duration of the bump implies a relatively compact main-sequence companion star, although this conclusion is viewing-angle dependent. Our best-fit companion-shocking and double-detonation models both overpredict the UV luminosity during the bump, and existing nickel-shell models do not match the strength and timescale of the bump. We also present nebular spectra of SN 2021aefx, which do not show the hydrogen or helium emission expected from a nondegenerate companion, as well as a radio nondetection that rules out all symbiotic progenitor systems and most accretion disk winds. Our analysis places strong but conflicting constraints on the progenitor of SN 2021aefx no current model can explain all of our observations.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 08-2022
Abstract: We present high-cadence optical, ultraviolet (UV), and near-infrared data of the nearby ( D ≈ 23 Mpc) Type II supernova (SN) 2021yja. Many Type II SNe show signs of interaction with circumstellar material (CSM) during the first few days after explosion, implying that their red supergiant (RSG) progenitors experience episodic or eruptive mass loss. However, because it is difficult to discover SNe early, the ersity of CSM configurations in RSGs has not been fully mapped. SN 2021yja, first detected within ≈ 5.4 hours of explosion, shows some signatures of CSM interaction (high UV luminosity and radio and x-ray emission) but without the narrow emission lines or early light-curve peak that can accompany CSM. Here we analyze the densely s led early light curve and spectral series of this nearby SN to infer the properties of its progenitor and CSM. We find that the most likely progenitor was an RSG with an extended envelope, encompassed by low-density CSM. We also present archival Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the host galaxy of SN 2021yja, which allows us to place a stringent upper limit of ≲ 9 M ☉ on the progenitor mass. However, this is in tension with some aspects of the SN evolution, which point to a more massive progenitor. Our analysis highlights the need to consider progenitor structure when making inferences about CSM properties, and that a comprehensive view of CSM tracers should be made to give a fuller view of the last years of RSG evolution.
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Date: 11-2018
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201834004
Abstract: Context. The 16 Myr old star 1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6 (V1400 Cen) underwent a series of complex eclipses in May 2007, interpreted as the transit of a giant Hill sphere filling debris ring system around a secondary companion, J1407b. No other eclipses have since been detected, although other measurements have constrained but not uniquely determined the orbital period of J1407b. Finding another eclipse towards J1407 will help determine the orbital period of the system, the geometry of the proposed ring system and enable planning of further observations to characterize the material within these putative rings. Aims. We carry out a search for other eclipses in photometric data of J1407 with the aim of constraining the orbital period of J1407b. Methods. We present photometry from archival photographic plates from the Harvard DASCH survey, and Bamberg and Sonneberg Observatories, in order to place additional constraints on the orbital period of J1407b by searching for other dimming and eclipse events. Using a visual inspection of all 387 plates and a period-folding algorithm we performed a search for other eclipses in these data sets. Results. We find no other deep eclipses in the data spanning from 1890 to 1990, nor in recent time-series photometry from 2012–2018. Conclusions. We rule out a large fraction of putative orbital periods for J1407b from 5 to 20 yr. These limits are still marginally consistent with a large Hill sphere filling ring system surrounding a brown dwarf companion in a bound elliptical orbit about J1407. Issues with the stability of any rings combined with the lack of detection of another eclipse, suggests that J1407b may not be bound to J1407.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-02-2022
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 2021
Abstract: We present high-cadence, comprehensive data on the nearby ( D ≃ 33 Mpc) Type II supernova (SN II) 2017ahn, discovered within about one day of the explosion, from the very early phases after explosion to the nebular phase. The observables of SN 2017ahn show a significant evolution over the ≃470 days of our follow-up c aign, first showing prominent, narrow Balmer lines and other high-ionization features purely in emission (i.e., flash spectroscopy features), which progressively fade and lead to a spectroscopic evolution similar to that of more canonical SNe II. Over the same period, the decline of the light curves in all bands is fast, resembling the photometric evolution of linearly declining H-rich core-collapse SNe. The modeling of the light curves and early flash spectra suggests that a complex circumstellar medium surrounds the progenitor star at the time of explosion, with a first dense shell produced during the very late stages of its evolution that is swept up by the rapidly expanding ejecta within the first ∼6 days of the SN evolution, while signatures of interaction are observed also at later phases. Hydrodynamical models support the scenario in which linearly declining SNe II are predicted to arise from massive yellow super- or hypergiants depleted of most of their hydrogen layers.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-10-2017
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE24471
Abstract: On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system. Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source. This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities, resulting in the identification of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren' (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder': the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements, while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitational-wave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 02-05-2020
Abstract: We present optical and near-infrared data of three Type II supernovae (SNe II), SN 2008bm, SN 2009aj, and SN 2009au. These SNe display the following common characteristics: signs of early interaction of the ejecta with circumstellar material (CSM), blue B − V colours, weakness of metal lines, low expansion velocities, and V-band absolute magnitudes 2–3 mag brighter than those expected for normal SNe II based on their expansion velocities. Two more SNe reported in the literature (SN 1983K and LSQ13fn) share properties similar to our s le. Analysing this set of five SNe II, which are luminous for their low expansion velocities (LLEV), we find that their properties can be reproduced assuming ejecta–CSM interaction that lasts between 4 and 11 weeks post-explosion. The contribution of this interaction to the radiation field seems to be the dominant component determining the observed weakness of metal lines in the spectra rather than the progenitor metallicity. Based on hydrodynamic simulations, we find that the interaction of the ejecta with a CSM of ∼3.6 M⊙ can reproduce the light curves and expansion velocities of SN 2009aj. Using data collected by the Chilean Automatic Supernova Search, we estimate an upper limit for the LLEV SNe II fraction to be 2–4 per cent of all normal SNe II. With the current data set, it is not clear whether the LLEV events are a separated class of SNe II with a different progenitor system, or whether they are the extreme of a continuum mediated by CSM interaction with the rest of the normal SN II population.
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Date: 08-2023
Abstract: We present very early photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2023bee, starting about 8 hr after the explosion, which reveal a strong excess in the optical and nearest UV ( U and UVW1 ) bands during the first several days of explosion. This data set allows us to probe the nature of the binary companion of the exploding white dwarf and the conditions leading to its ignition. We find a good match to the Kasen model in which a main-sequence companion star stings the ejecta with a shock as they buzz past. Models of double detonations, shells of radioactive nickel near the surface, interaction with circumstellar material, and pulsational delayed detonations do not provide good matches to our light curves. We also observe signatures of unburned material, in the form of carbon absorption, in our earliest spectra. Our radio nondetections place a limit on the mass-loss rate from the putative companion that rules out a red giant but allows a main-sequence star. We discuss our results in the context of other similar SNe Ia in the literature.
Location: United States of America
No related grants have been discovered for Vladimir Kouprianov.