Whimper of a Bang: Documenting the Final Days of the Nearby Type Ia Supernova 2011fe

Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Large Binocular Telescope, we followed the evolution of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2011fe for an unprecedented 1840 days past B-band maximum light and over a factor of 7 million in flux. At 1840 days, the 4000 - 17000 quasi-bolometric luminosity is j...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2017-05, Vol.841 (1), p.48
Main Authors: Shappee, B. J., Stanek, K. Z., Kochanek, C. S., Garnavich, P. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysics
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
BOLOMETERS
Cobalt
COBALT 56
COBALT 57
DENSITY
DETECTION
DIAGRAMS
Hubble Space Telescope
Iron
IRON 55
ISOTOPE RATIO
Light curve
LUMINOSITY
MASS
NUCLEAR DECAY
Space telescopes
STAR EVOLUTION
Stellar evolution
Supernova
supernovae: general
supernovae: individual (SN 2011fe)
TELESCOPES
TYPE I SUPERNOVAE
WHITE DWARF STARS
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Summary:Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Large Binocular Telescope, we followed the evolution of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2011fe for an unprecedented 1840 days past B-band maximum light and over a factor of 7 million in flux. At 1840 days, the 4000 - 17000 quasi-bolometric luminosity is just ( 420 20 ) L . By measuring the late-time quasi-bolometric light curve, we present the first confident detection of 57Co decay in a SN Ia light curve and estimate a mass ratio of log ( 57 Co 56 Co ) = − 1.59 − 0.07 + 0.06 . We do not have a clean detection of 55 Fe , but find a limit of 55 Fe 57 Co < 0.22 with 99% confidence. These abundance ratios provide unique constraints on the progenitor system because the central density of the exploding white dwarf(s) dictates these nucleosynthetic yields. The observed ratios strongly prefer the lower central densities of double-degenerate models ( 55 Fe 57 Co = 0.27 ) over the higher central densities of near-Chandrasekhar-mass single-degenerate models ( 55 Fe 57 Co = 0.68 ). However, additional theoretical studies predicting isotopic yields from a broader range of progenitor systems are motivated by these unique observations. We will continue to observe SN 2011fe for another ∼600 days with HST and possibly beyond.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/aa6eab