Low-luminosity Type II supernovae: Spectroscopic and photometric evolution

A. Pastorello*, L. Zampieri, M. Turatto, E. Cappellaro, W. P.S. Meikle, S. Benetti, D. Branch, E. Baron, F. Patat, M. Armstrong, G. Altavilla, M. Salvo, M. Riello

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    204 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In this paper we present spectroscopic and photometric observations for four core-collapsed supernovae (SNe), namely SNe 1994N, 1999br, 1999eu and 2001dc. Together with SN 1997D, we show that they form a group of exceptionally low-luminosity events. These SNe have narrow spectral lines (indicating low expansion velocities) and low luminosities at every phase (significantly lower than those of typical core-collapsed supernovae). The very-low luminosity during the 56Co radioactive decay tail indicates that the mass of 56Ni ejected during the explosion is much smaller (MNi ≈ 2-8 × 10-3 M) than the average (M Ni ≈ 6-10 × 10-2 M). Two supernovae of this group (SN 1999br and SN 2001dc) were discovered very close to the explosion epoch, allowing us to determine the lengths of their plateaux (≈100 d) as well as establishing the explosion epochs of the other, less completely observed SNe. It is likely that this group of SNe represent the extreme low-luminosity tail of a single continuous distribution of Type II plateau Supernovae events. Their kinetic energy is also exceptionally low. Although an origin from low-mass progenitors has also been proposed for low-luminosity core-collapsed SNe, recent work provides evidence in favour of the high-mass progenitor scenario. The incidence of these low-luminosity SNe could be as high as 4-5 per cent of all Type II SNe.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)74-94
    Number of pages21
    JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
    Volume347
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2004

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Low-luminosity Type II supernovae: Spectroscopic and photometric evolution'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this