Abstract
ASASSN-14ko is a nuclear transient at the center of the AGN ESO 253−G003 that undergoes periodic flares. Optical flares were first observed in 2014 by the All-Sky Automated Survey for ...Supernovae (ASAS-SN) and their peak times are well-modeled with a period of
115.2
−
1.2
+
1.3
days and period derivative of −0.0026 ± 0.0006. Here we present ASAS-SN, Chandra, HST/STIS, NICER, Swift, and TESS data for the flares that occurred on 2020 December, 2021 April, 2021 July, and 2021 November. These four flares represent flares 18–21 of the total number of flares observed by ASAS-SN so far since 2014. The HST/STIS UV spectra evolve from blueshifted broad absorption features to redshifted broad emission features over ∼10 days. The Swift UV/optical light curves peaked as predicted by the timing model, but the peak UV luminosities that varied between flares and the UV flux in Flare 20 were roughly half the brightness of the other peaks. The X-ray luminosities consistently decreased and the spectra became harder during the UV/optical rise, but apparently without changes in absorption. Finally, two high-cadence TESS light curves from Flare 18 and Flare 12 showed that the slopes during the rising and declining phases changed over time, which indicates some stochasticity in the flare’s driving mechanism. Although ASASSN-14ko remains observationally consistent with a repeating partial tidal disruption event, these rich multi-wavelength data are in need of a detailed theoretical model.
We describe two new open-source tools written in Python for performing extreme deconvolution Gaussian mixture modeling (XDGMM) and using a conditioned model to re-sample observed supernova and host ...galaxy populations. XDGMM is new program that uses Gaussian mixtures to perform density estimation of noisy data using extreme deconvolution (XD) algorithms. Additionally, it has functionality not available in other XD tools. It allows the user to select between the AstroML and Bovy et al. fitting methods and is compatible with scikit-learn machine learning algorithms. Most crucially, it allows the user to condition a model based on the known values of a subset of parameters. This gives the user the ability to produce a tool that can predict unknown parameters based on a model that is conditioned on known values of other parameters. EmpiriciSN is an exemplary application of this functionality, which can be used to fit an XDGMM model to observed supernova/host data sets and predict likely supernova parameters using a model conditioned on observed host properties. It is primarily intended to simulate realistic supernovae for LSST data simulations based on empirical galaxy properties.
ABSTRACT On 2014 December 9.61, the All-sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN or "Assassin") discovered ASASSN-14lp just ∼2 days after first light using a global array of 14 cm diameter ...telescopes. ASASSN-14lp went on to become a bright supernova (V = 11.94 mag), second only to SN 2014J for the year. We present prediscovery photometry (with a detection less than a day after first light) and ultraviolet through near-infrared photometric and spectroscopic data covering the rise and fall of ASASSN-14lp for more than 100 days. We find that ASASSN-14lp had a broad light curve ( ), a B-band maximum at 2457015.82 0.03, a rise time of days, and moderate host-galaxy extinction ( ). Using ASASSN-14lp, we derive a distance modulus for NGC 4666 of , corresponding to a distance of 14.7 1.5 Mpc. However, adding ASASSN-14lp to the calibrating sample of Type Ia supernovae still requires an independent distance to the host galaxy. Finally, using our early-time photometric and spectroscopic observations, we rule out red giant secondaries and, assuming a favorable viewing angle and explosion time, any nondegenerate companion larger than 0.34 .
Abstract
We present optical photometry and spectroscopy of the Type Ia supernova SN2018cqj/ATLAS18qtd. The supernova exploded in an isolated region at ∼65 kpc from the S0 galaxy IC 550 at
z
= 0.0165 ...(
D
≈ 74 Mpc) and has a redshift consistent with a physical association to this galaxy. Multicolor photometry show that SN2018cqj/ATLAS18qtd is a low-luminosity (
mag), fast-declining Type Ia, with color stretch
s
BV
≈ 0.6 and
B
-band decline rate Δ
m
15
(
B
) ≈ 1.77 mag. Two nebular-phase spectra obtained as part of the 100IAS survey at +193 and +307 days after peak show the clear detection of a narrow H
α
line in emission that is resolved in the first spectrum with FWHM ≈ 1200 km s
−1
and
L
H
α
≈ 3.8 × 10
37
erg s
−1
. The detection of a resolved H
α
line with a declining luminosity is broadly consistent with recent models where hydrogen is stripped from the nondegenerate companion in a single-degenerate progenitor system. However, the amount of hydrogen consistent with the luminosities of the H
α
line would be ∼10
−3
M
⊙
, which is significantly less than theoretical model predictions in the classical single-degenerate progenitor systems. SN2018cqj/ATLAS18qtd is the second low-luminosity, fast-declining SN Ia after SN2018fhw/ASASSN-18tb that shows narrow H
α
in emission in its nebular-phase spectra.
Abstract
We present new photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN 2019yvq, a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) exhibiting several peculiar properties including an excess of UV/optical flux within days ...of explosion, a high Si
ii
velocity, and a low peak luminosity. Photometry near the time of first light places new constraints on the rapid rise of the UV/optical flux excess. A near-infrared spectrum at +173 days after maximum light places strict limits on the presence of H or He emission, effectively excluding the presence of a nearby nondegenerate star at the time of explosion. New optical spectra, acquired at +128 and +150 days after maximum light, confirm the presence of Ca
ii
λ
7300 and persistent Ca
ii
NIR triplet emission as SN 2019yvq transitions into the nebular phase. The lack of O
i
λ
6300
emission disfavors the violent merger of two C/O white dwarfs (WDs) but the merger of a C/O WD with a He WD cannot be excluded. We compare our findings with several models in the literature postulated to explain the early flux excess including double-detonation explosions,
56
Ni mixing into the outer ejecta during ignition, and interaction with H- and He-deficient circumstellar material. Each model may be able to explain both the early flux excess and the nebular Ca
ii
emission, but none of the models can reconcile the high photospheric velocities with the low peak luminosity without introducing new discrepancies.
Abstract
We report comprehensive multi-wavelength observations of a peculiar Type Ia-like supernova (“SN Ia-pec”) ASASSN-15pz. ASASSN-15pz is a spectroscopic “twin” of SN 2009dc, a so-called ...“Super-Chandrasekhar-mass” SN, throughout its evolution, but it has a peak luminosity
that is
dimmer and comparable to the SN 1991T sub-class of SNe Ia at the luminous end of the normal width-luminosity relation. The synthesized
56
Ni mass of
is also substantially less than that found for several 2009dc-like SNe. Previous well-studied 2009dc-like SNe have generally suffered from large and uncertain amounts of host-galaxy extinction, which is negligible for ASASSN-15pz. Based on the color of ASASSN-15pz, we estimate a host extinction for SN 2009dc of
and confirm its high luminosity (
). The 2009dc-like SN population, which represents ∼1% of SNe Ia, exhibits a range of peak luminosities, and do not fit onto the tight width-luminosity relation. Their optical light curves also show significant diversity of late-time (≳50 days) decline rates. The nebular-phase spectra provide powerful diagnostics to identify the 2009dc-like events as a distinct class of SNe Ia. We suggest referring to these sources using the phenomenology-based “2009dc-like SN Ia-pec” instead of “Super-Chandrasekhar SN Ia,” which is based on an uncertain theoretical interpretation.
We present spatially and spectrally resolved Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of gas and dust orbiting the pre-main-sequence hierarchical triple-star system GW Ori. A ...forward modeling of the 13CO and C18O J = 2-1 transitions permits a measurement of the total stellar mass in this system, , and the circumtriple disk inclination, . Optical spectra spanning a 35 yr period were used to derive new radial velocities and, coupled with a spectroscopic disentangling technique, revealed that the A and B components of GW Ori form a double-lined spectroscopic binary with a period of 241.50 0.05 days; a tertiary companion orbits that inner pair with a period of 4218 50 days. Combining the results from the ALMA data and the optical spectra with three epochs of astrometry in the literature, we constrain the individual stellar masses in the system ( , , ) and find strong evidence that at least one of the stellar orbital planes (and likely both) is misaligned with the disk plane by as much as 45°. A V-band light curve spanning 30 yr reveals several new ∼30-day eclipse events 0.1-0.7 mag in depth and a 0.2 mag sinusoidal oscillation that is clearly phased with the AB-C orbital period. Taken together, these features suggest that the A-B pair may be partially obscured by material in the inner disk as the pair approaches apoastron in the hierarchical orbit. Lastly, we conclude that stellar evolutionary models are consistent with our measurements of the masses and basic photospheric properties if the GW Ori system is ∼1 Myr old.
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