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  • SN 2020jgb: A Peculiar Type...
    Liu, Chang; Miller, Adam A.; Polin, Abigail; Nugent, Anya E.; De, Kishalay; Nugent, Peter E.; Schulze, Steve; Gal-Yam, Avishay; Fremling, Christoffer; Anand, Shreya; Andreoni, Igor; Blanchard, Peter; Brink, Thomas G.; Dhawan, Suhail; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Maguire, Kate; Schweyer, Tassilo; Sears, Huei; Sharma, Yashvi; Graham, Matthew J.; Groom, Steven L.; Hale, David; Kasliwal, Mansi M.; Masci, Frank J.; Purdum, Josiah; Racine, Benjamin; Sollerman, Jesper; Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.

    The Astrophysical journal, 04/2023, Volume: 946, Issue: 2
    Journal Article

    Abstract The detonation of a thin (≲0.03 M ⊙ ) helium shell (He-shell) atop a ∼1 M ⊙ white dwarf (WD) is a promising mechanism to explain normal Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), while thicker He-shells and less massive WDs may explain some recently observed peculiar SNe Ia. We present observations of SN 2020jgb, a peculiar SN Ia discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Near maximum brightness, SN 2020jgb is slightly subluminous (ZTF g -band absolute magnitude −18.7 mag ≲ M g ≲ −18.2 mag depending on the amount of host-galaxy extinction) and shows an unusually red color (0.2 mag ≲ g ZTF − r ZTF ≲ 0.4 mag) due to strong line-blanketing blueward of ∼5000 Å. These properties resemble those of SN 2018byg, a peculiar SN Ia consistent with an He-shell double detonation (DDet) SN. Using detailed radiative transfer models, we show that the optical spectroscopic and photometric evolution of SN 2020jgb is broadly consistent with a ∼0.95–1.00 M ⊙ (C/O core + He-shell) progenitor ignited by a ≳0.1 M ⊙ He-shell. However, one-dimensional radiative transfer models without non-local-thermodynamic-equilibrium treatment cannot accurately characterize the line-blanketing features, making the actual shell mass uncertain. We detect a prominent absorption feature at ∼1 μ m in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum of SN 2020jgb, which might originate from unburnt helium in the outermost ejecta. While the sample size is limited, we find similar 1 μ m features in all the peculiar He-shell DDet candidates with NIR spectra obtained to date. SN 2020jgb is also the first peculiar He-shell DDet SN discovered in a star-forming dwarf galaxy, indisputably showing that He-shell DDet SNe occur in both star-forming and passive galaxies, consistent with the normal SN Ia population.