THREE-DIMENSIONAL EXPLOSION GEOMETRY OF STRIPPED-ENVELOPE CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE. I. SPECTROPOLARIMETRIC OBSERVATIONS

We study the multi-dimensional geometry of supernova (SN) explosions by means of spectropolarimetric observations of stripped-envelope SNe, i.e., SNe without a hydrogen-rich layer. We perform spectropolarimetric observations of two stripped-envelope SNe, Type Ib SN 2009jf and Type Ic SN 2009mi. Both...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2012-07, Vol.754 (1), p.1-10
Main Authors: Tanaka, Masaomi, Kawabata, Koji S, Hattori, Takashi, Mazzali, Paolo A, Aoki, Kentaro, Iye, Masanori, Maeda, Keiichi, Nomoto, Ken'ichi, Pian, Elena, Sasaki, Toshiyuki, Yamanaka, Masayuki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
AXIAL SYMMETRY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CORRECTIONS
DIAGRAMS
Dispersions
Ejecta
Explosions
HYDROGEN
Ion distribution
IONS
LAYERS
POLARIMETRY
POLARIZATION
SUPERNOVAE
Supernovas
Three dimensional
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
WAVELENGTHS
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Summary:We study the multi-dimensional geometry of supernova (SN) explosions by means of spectropolarimetric observations of stripped-envelope SNe, i.e., SNe without a hydrogen-rich layer. We perform spectropolarimetric observations of two stripped-envelope SNe, Type Ib SN 2009jf and Type Ic SN 2009mi. Both objects show non-zero polarization at the wavelength of the strong lines. They also show a loop in the Stokes Q-U diagram, which indicates a non-axisymmetric, three-dimensional ion distribution in the ejecta. We show that five out of six stripped-envelope SNe, which have been observed spectropolarimetrically so far, show such a loop. This implies that a three-dimensional geometry is common in stripped-envelope SNe. We find that stronger lines tend to show higher polarization. This effect is not related to the geometry, and must be corrected for to compare the polarization of different lines or different objects. Even after the correction, however, there remains a dispersion of polarization degree among different objects. Such a dispersion might be caused by three-dimensional clumpy ion distributions viewed from different directions.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/754/1/63