Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Jan 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21331206v&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #312.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.289
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
Supernovae (SNe) of Type Ia, being very luminous standardizable candles, are highly valuable probes of cosmology, having led to the astonishing result that the Universe is currently accelerating. As confidence in the use of Type Ia SNe for determining cosmological parameters increases, the underpinnings of this technique are still wobbly: we still possess little understanding of the progenitors of these SNe. Although we are reasonably certain that the exploding star is a white dwarf (WD) in an interacting binary system, the nature of the donor responsible for the mass transfer leading up to explosion remains unknown. The most likely donors are dwarf, subgiant, giant stars (single degenerate system), or another WD (double degenerate system, in which the two WDs coalesce). Ruiz-Lapuente et al. (2004) have identified a high proper-motion subgiant which survived SN 1572 (Tycho). Detecting the stellar companion (subgiant, giant) in a single degenerate system outside the Milky Way would be challenging, even in the aftermath of the explosion, as the SN shock impact may greatly brighten the surviving companion (e.g., Marietta et al. 2000; Podsiadlowski 2003). However, it might be possible in galaxies within 5 Mpc.
The "Branch normal" SN Ia 1972E occurred in NGC 5253 at a distance of 4.2 Mpc. We have remeasured the SN position and have isolated the SN site to within 0.5" in deep (V 28 mag) archival Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys Wide Field Channel (WFC) images obtained 33 years after explosion. We analyze the sources detected within this region. (Even with a kick velocity from the explosion, e.g., vkick 450 km/s, the companion would not have traveled very far, << 1 WFC pixel.) These image data allow us to impose constraints on the nature of the companion. We present the results of this analysis.
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