Article

SN 2012fr: Ultraviolet, Optical, and Near-infrared Light Curves of a Type Ia Supernova Observed within a Day of Explosion*

C. ContrerasDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 120, DK-8000 Aarhus C, DenmarkM. M. PhillipsLas Campanas Observatory, Carnegie Observatories, Casilla 601, La Serena, ChileChris R. BurnsObservatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USAAnthony L. PiroObservatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USAB. J. ShappeeObservatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USAM. StritzingerDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 120, DK-8000 Aarhus C, DenmarkC. BaltayPhysics Department, Yale University, 217 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511-8499, USAPeter J. BrownTexas A&M UniversityE. ConseilA. KlotzUniversité de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, IRAP, 14, avenue Edouard Belin, F-31400 Toulouse, FranceP. NugentLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Department of Physics, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USAD. TurpinUniversité de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, IRAP, 14, avenue Edouard Belin, F-31400 Toulouse, FranceStu ParkerBackyard Observatory Supernova Search (BOSS), Parkdale Observatory, New ZealandD. RabinowitzPhysics Department, Yale University, 217 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511-8499, USAE. Y. HsiaoDepartment of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USAN. MorrellLas Campanas Observatory, Carnegie Observatories, Casilla 601, La Serena, ChileA. CampillayLas Campanas Observatory, Carnegie Observatories, Casilla 601, La Serena, ChileS. CastellónLas Campanas Observatory, Carnegie Observatories, Casilla 601, La Serena, ChileC. CorcoSOAR Telescope, Casilla 603, La Serena, ChileC. GonzálezLas Campanas Observatory, Carnegie Observatories, Casilla 601, La Serena, ChileK. KrisciunasGeorge P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USAJ. SerónLas Campanas Observatory, Carnegie Observatories, Casilla 601, La Serena, ChileB. TuckerARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), ANU, Canberra, AustraliaE. S. WalkerQriously Corporation, 1 Hartwick Street, London EC1R4RB, UKE. BaronHomer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, 440 W. Brooks Street, Rm 100, Norman, OK 73019, USAChristopher CainHomer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, 440 W. Brooks Street, Rm 100, Norman, OK 73019, USAM. ChildressARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), ANU, Canberra, AustraliaG. FolatelliFacultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata (IALP), CONICET, Paseo del Bosque S/N, B1900FWA La Plata, ArgentinaWendy L. FreedmanObservatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USAM. HamuyDepartamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, ChileP. HoêflichDepartment of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USAS. E. PerssonObservatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USAR. ScalzoARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), ANU, Canberra, AustraliaB. SchmidtResearch School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, AustraliaN. B. SuntzeffGeorge P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA

2018en

ABI

Abstract

Abstract We present detailed ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared light curves of the Type Ia supernova (SN) 2012fr, which exploded in the Fornax cluster member NGC 1365. These precise high-cadence light curves provide a dense coverage of the flux evolution from −12 to +140 days with respect to the epoch of B -band maximum ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>B</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>max</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> ). Supplementary imaging at the earliest epochs reveals an initial slow and nearly linear rise in luminosity with a duration of ∼2.5 days, followed by a faster rising phase that is well reproduced by an explosion model with a moderate amount of 56 Ni mixing in the ejecta. From our analysis of the light curves, we conclude that: (i) the explosion occurred <22 hr before the first detection of the supernova, (ii) the rise time to peak bolometric ( λ > 1800 Å) luminosity was 16.5 ± 0.6 days, (iii) the supernova suffered little or no host-galaxy dust reddening, (iv) the peak luminosity in both the optical and near-infrared was consistent with the bright end of normal Type Ia diversity, and (v) 0.60 ± 0.15 M ⊙ of 56 Ni was synthesized in the explosion. Despite its normal luminosity, SN 2012fr displayed unusually prevalent high-velocity Ca ii and Si ii absorption features, and a nearly constant photospheric velocity of the Si ii λ 6355 line at ∼12,000 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>km</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">s</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:math> that began ∼5 days before <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>B</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>max</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> . We also highlight some of the other peculiarities in the early phase photometry and the spectral evolution. SN 2012fr also adds to a growing number of Type Ia supernovae that are hosted by galaxies with direct Cepheid distance measurements.

Identifiers

DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aabaf8

Citations and references

Cited by 20 references

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