DETECTION OF A LIGHT ECHO FROM THE OTHERWISE NORMAL SN 2007af

ABSTRACT We present the discovery of a light echo from SN 2007af, a normal Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in NGC 5584. Hubble Space Telescope images taken three years post explosion reveal two separate echoes: an outer echo and an extended central region, which we propose to be an inner echo for which de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2015-05, Vol.805 (1), p.1-9, Article 71
Main Authors: Drozdov, D., Leising, M. D., Milne, P. A., Pearcy, J., Riess, A. G., Macri, L. M., Bryngelson, G. L., Garnavich, P. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
BRIGHTNESS
circumstellar matter
COSMIC DUST
CROSS SECTIONS
DETECTION
Dust
dust, extinction
Field cameras
GALAXIES
galaxies: individual (NGC 5584)
Interstellar
Line of sight
Scattering
SPACE
supernovae: general
supernovae: individual (SN 2007af)
Supernovas
TELESCOPES
TYPE I SUPERNOVAE
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Summary:ABSTRACT We present the discovery of a light echo from SN 2007af, a normal Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in NGC 5584. Hubble Space Telescope images taken three years post explosion reveal two separate echoes: an outer echo and an extended central region, which we propose to be an inner echo for which details are unresolved. Multiple images were obtained in the F160W, F350LP, F555W, and F814W using the Wide Field Camera 3. If the outer echo is produced by an interstellar dust sheet perpendicular to the line of sight, it is located ∼800 pc in front of the SN. The dust for the inner echo is 0.45 pc pc away from the SN. The inner echo color is consistent with typical interstellar dust wavelength-dependent scattering cross-sections, while the outer echo is redder than predicted. Both dust sheets, if in the foreground, are optically thin for scattering, and the outer echo sheet thickness is consistent with the inferred extinction from peak brightness. Whether the inner echo is from interstellar or circumstellar dust is ambiguous. Overall, the echo characteristics are quite similar to previously observed SN Ia echoes.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/805/1/71