Other
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011sptz.prop80023f&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #80023
Other
Scientific paper
More than any other supernova subclass, Type IIn supernovae tend to exhibit late-time (>100 days) infrared emission from warm dust. Identifying the origin and heating mechanism of the dust provides an important probe of the supernova explosion, circumstellar environment, and progenitor system. Yet mid-infrared observations, which span the peak of the thermal emission, are rare. Two years ago, we executed a warm Spitzer survey (P60122) of sixty-eight Type IIn events from the past ten years. The survey uncovered nine supernovae with unreported late-time infrared excesses, in some cases more than 5 years post-explosion. From this single epoch of data, and ground-based optical data, we have determined the likely origin of the mid-infrared emission to be pre-existing dust that is continuously heated by optical emission generated by ongoing circumstellar interaction between the forward shock and circumstellar medium. Furthermore, we noticed an emerging trend suggests these supernovae ``turn off'' at ~1000-2000 days post-discovery once the forward shock overruns the dust shell. Now is the ideal time to build upon this work with a second epoch of observations, which will be necessary to constrain our models. If we catch even a single supernova turning off between the first and second epochs of observation, we will be able to both measure the size of the circumstellar dust shell and characterize of the supernova progenitor system. We can obtain all the necessary data in only 9.3 hours of observation. Our team has extensive experience in infrared supernovae observations. We have already published two papers on one Type IIn supernovae (SN 2005ip) and authored two successful proposal for Spitzer observations of this subclass. This is an ideal application for the Spitzer warm mission, as the 3.6 and 4.5 micron bands span the peak of the thermal emission and provide the necessary constraints on the dust temperature, mass, and luminosity.
Chevalier Roger
Fox Ori
Moseley Samuel Harvey
Skrutskie Michael
No associations
LandOfFree
Constraining the Origin and Heating Mechanism of Dust in Type IIn Supernovae does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Constraining the Origin and Heating Mechanism of Dust in Type IIn Supernovae, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Constraining the Origin and Heating Mechanism of Dust in Type IIn Supernovae will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1207127