Origin of extraordinary supernovae revealed

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Keiichi Maeda (Graduate School/Faculty of Science) and his colleagues revealed the origin of "extraordinary over-luminous supernovae" using observational data obtained through the Optical Infrared Synergetic Telescopes for Education and Research (OISTER) in Japan.

The researchers discovered an anomalously strong infrared emission from "the extraordinary supernova" SN 2012dn, which has never been observed in other Type Ia supernovae to date.

Through detailed analysis, the researchers concluded that the infrared emission comes from the material ejected from the progenitor system.

Uncovering the origin of the "extraordinary" supernovae is key to understanding the origin of typical supernovae, and whether or not it is the same as the origin of the "extraordinary supernovae". In addition this finding could improve measurements of the universe's expansion rate as the brightness of "extraordinary" supernovae contaminate other samples.

Image around SN 2012dn obtained by the Kanata Telescope at Higashi-Hiroshima Observatory. SN 2012dn is seen near the center of this figure. The host galaxy ESO 462-G016 is seen on the left side of SN 2012dn. The distance to this galaxy is known to be 130 mega-light-years. Because the supernova is a point source, the expansion cannot be measured, but the evolutions of the brightness and color are obtained.

Further Information

Japan OISTER collaboration uncovers the origin of extraordinary supernovae
http://www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/science/2016/20160607-oister.html

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