An extremely energetic supernova from a very massive star in a dense medium
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An extremely energetic supernova from a very massive star in a dense medium. / Nicholl, Matt; Blanchard, Peter K.; Berger, Edo; Chornock, Ryan; Margutti, Raffaella; Gomez, Sebastian; Lunnan, Ragnhild; Miller, Adam A.; Fong, Wen-fai; Terreran, Giacomo; Vigna-Gomez, Alejandro; Bhirombhakdi, Kornpob; Bieryla, Allyson; Challis, Pete; Laher, Russ R.; Masci, Frank J.; Paterson, Kerry.
In: Nature Astronomy, Vol. 4, 13.04.2020, p. 893-899.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - An extremely energetic supernova from a very massive star in a dense medium
AU - Nicholl, Matt
AU - Blanchard, Peter K.
AU - Berger, Edo
AU - Chornock, Ryan
AU - Margutti, Raffaella
AU - Gomez, Sebastian
AU - Lunnan, Ragnhild
AU - Miller, Adam A.
AU - Fong, Wen-fai
AU - Terreran, Giacomo
AU - Vigna-Gomez, Alejandro
AU - Bhirombhakdi, Kornpob
AU - Bieryla, Allyson
AU - Challis, Pete
AU - Laher, Russ R.
AU - Masci, Frank J.
AU - Paterson, Kerry
PY - 2020/4/13
Y1 - 2020/4/13
N2 - The interaction of a supernova with a circumstellar medium (CSM) can dramatically increase the emitted luminosity by converting kinetic energy to thermal energy. In 'superluminous' supernovae of type IIn-named for narrow hydrogen lines(1) in their spectra-the integrated emission can reach(2-6) similar to 10(51) erg, attainable by thermalizing most of the kinetic energy of a conventional supernova. A few transients in the centres of active galaxies have shown similar spectra and even larger energies(7,8), but are difficult to distinguish from accretion onto the supermassive black hole. Here we present a new event, SN2016aps, offset from the centre of a low-mass galaxy, that radiated greater than or similar to 5 x 10(51) erg, necessitating a hyper-energetic supernova explosion. We find a total (supernova ejecta + CSM) mass likely exceeding 50-100 M-circle dot, with energy greater than or similar to 10(52) erg, consistent with some models of pair-instability supernovae or pulsational pair-instability supernovae-theoretically predicted thermonuclear explosions from helium cores >50 M-circle dot. Independent of the explosion mechanism, this event demonstrates the existence of extremely energetic stellar explosions, detectable at very high redshifts, and provides insight into dense CSM formation in the most massive stars.
AB - The interaction of a supernova with a circumstellar medium (CSM) can dramatically increase the emitted luminosity by converting kinetic energy to thermal energy. In 'superluminous' supernovae of type IIn-named for narrow hydrogen lines(1) in their spectra-the integrated emission can reach(2-6) similar to 10(51) erg, attainable by thermalizing most of the kinetic energy of a conventional supernova. A few transients in the centres of active galaxies have shown similar spectra and even larger energies(7,8), but are difficult to distinguish from accretion onto the supermassive black hole. Here we present a new event, SN2016aps, offset from the centre of a low-mass galaxy, that radiated greater than or similar to 5 x 10(51) erg, necessitating a hyper-energetic supernova explosion. We find a total (supernova ejecta + CSM) mass likely exceeding 50-100 M-circle dot, with energy greater than or similar to 10(52) erg, consistent with some models of pair-instability supernovae or pulsational pair-instability supernovae-theoretically predicted thermonuclear explosions from helium cores >50 M-circle dot. Independent of the explosion mechanism, this event demonstrates the existence of extremely energetic stellar explosions, detectable at very high redshifts, and provides insight into dense CSM formation in the most massive stars.
KW - SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE
KW - LUMINOUS SUPERNOVA
KW - IIN SUPERNOVA
KW - SPECTROGRAPH
KW - RESOLUTION
KW - EVOLUTION
KW - DISCOVERY
KW - ERUPTIONS
KW - SN-2006GY
KW - EVENTS
U2 - 10.1038/s41550-020-1066-7
DO - 10.1038/s41550-020-1066-7
M3 - Journal article
VL - 4
SP - 893
EP - 899
JO - Nature Astronomy
JF - Nature Astronomy
SN - 2397-3366
ER -
ID: 247338656