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Spectra of hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae from the Palomar Transient Factory

Spectra of hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae from the Palomar Transient Factory
Spectra of hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae from the Palomar Transient Factory

Most Type I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) reported to date have been identified by their high peak luminosities and spectra lacking obvious signs of hydrogen. We demonstrate that these events can be distinguished from normal-luminosity SNe (including Type Ic events) solely from their spectra over a wide range of light-curve phases. We use this distinction to select 19 SLSNe-I and four possible SLSNe-I from the Palomar Transient Factory archive (including seven previously published objects). We present 127 new spectra of these objects and combine these with 39 previously published spectra, and we use these to discuss the average spectral properties of SLSNe-I at different spectral phases. We find that Mn ii most probably contributes to the ultraviolet spectral features after maximum light, and we give a detailed study of the O ii features that often characterize the early-time optical spectra of SLSNe-I. We discuss the velocity distribution of O ii, finding that for some SLSNe-I this can be confined to a narrow range compared to relatively large systematic velocity shifts. Mg ii and Fe ii favor higher velocities than O ii and C ii, and we briefly discuss how this may constrain power-source models. We tentatively group objects by how well they match either SN 2011ke or PTF12dam and discuss the possibility that physically distinct events may have been previously grouped together under the SLSN-I label.

supernovae: general
0004-637X
Quimby, Robert M.
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Cia, Annalisa De
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Gal-Yam, Avishay
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Leloudas, Giorgos
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Lunnan, Ragnhild
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Perley, Daniel A.
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Vreeswijk, Paul M.
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Yan, Lin
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Bloom, Joshua S.
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Cenko, S. Bradley
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Cooke, Jeff
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Ellis, Richard
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Filippenko, Alexei V.
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Kasliwal, Mansi M.
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Kleiser, Io K.W.
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Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.
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Matheson, Thomas
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Nugent, Peter E.
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Pan, Yen Chen
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Silverman, Jeffrey M.
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Sternberg, Assaf
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Sullivan, Mark
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Yaron, Ofer
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Quimby, Robert M.
e7dab437-ae0e-467a-8cad-99d6359e4ecf
Cia, Annalisa De
6e6fc309-2cbc-4bc7-8bcc-9d7df41cc258
Gal-Yam, Avishay
80aa0bba-7626-4e69-bb9b-8db7bf0cc159
Leloudas, Giorgos
a49914b6-26c7-4494-b8c0-107461f35b1d
Lunnan, Ragnhild
699de730-e513-42ca-8f0a-a78d8c19ba27
Perley, Daniel A.
1461c78a-63ce-4d55-90bd-fb15c122368e
Vreeswijk, Paul M.
c61e4d0e-a12c-43b1-a4f4-77ac6e023002
Yan, Lin
fcc06f15-ac84-4458-9236-27c8ba52ecbc
Bloom, Joshua S.
d2ab3b02-56c4-4d5c-a792-badec0f13391
Cenko, S. Bradley
e7a32a77-161f-4df3-8563-1b3fd474410b
Cooke, Jeff
9c6e0ec4-8bfe-4163-9fdb-5325564926eb
Ellis, Richard
bf3e2ce1-2010-4487-81ed-e0c25be4fe17
Filippenko, Alexei V.
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Kasliwal, Mansi M.
8543c0f6-ed5d-4b5b-a5eb-e1fb38e8882d
Kleiser, Io K.W.
6b370146-210f-4d57-852d-3d75351853f1
Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.
64b01016-7934-47db-8d4c-40646ebff394
Matheson, Thomas
920511a9-817c-4162-9104-c83a84a5a9a4
Nugent, Peter E.
f98e37c2-aa8f-455b-8eb9-5b350046a2e0
Pan, Yen Chen
1d1d0299-819d-4f4c-8895-7a643a9cd258
Silverman, Jeffrey M.
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Sternberg, Assaf
fb81cff0-3691-4edb-95fa-f2c1859fe3c8
Sullivan, Mark
2f31f9fa-8e79-4b35-98e2-0cb38f503850
Yaron, Ofer
bba3cfb6-03cd-4709-95db-a8a230f07d6a

Quimby, Robert M., Cia, Annalisa De, Gal-Yam, Avishay, Leloudas, Giorgos, Lunnan, Ragnhild, Perley, Daniel A., Vreeswijk, Paul M., Yan, Lin, Bloom, Joshua S., Cenko, S. Bradley, Cooke, Jeff, Ellis, Richard, Filippenko, Alexei V., Kasliwal, Mansi M., Kleiser, Io K.W., Kulkarni, Shrinivas R., Matheson, Thomas, Nugent, Peter E., Pan, Yen Chen, Silverman, Jeffrey M., Sternberg, Assaf, Sullivan, Mark and Yaron, Ofer (2018) Spectra of hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae from the Palomar Transient Factory. Astrophysical Journal, 855 (1), [2]. (doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaac2f).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Most Type I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) reported to date have been identified by their high peak luminosities and spectra lacking obvious signs of hydrogen. We demonstrate that these events can be distinguished from normal-luminosity SNe (including Type Ic events) solely from their spectra over a wide range of light-curve phases. We use this distinction to select 19 SLSNe-I and four possible SLSNe-I from the Palomar Transient Factory archive (including seven previously published objects). We present 127 new spectra of these objects and combine these with 39 previously published spectra, and we use these to discuss the average spectral properties of SLSNe-I at different spectral phases. We find that Mn ii most probably contributes to the ultraviolet spectral features after maximum light, and we give a detailed study of the O ii features that often characterize the early-time optical spectra of SLSNe-I. We discuss the velocity distribution of O ii, finding that for some SLSNe-I this can be confined to a narrow range compared to relatively large systematic velocity shifts. Mg ii and Fe ii favor higher velocities than O ii and C ii, and we briefly discuss how this may constrain power-source models. We tentatively group objects by how well they match either SN 2011ke or PTF12dam and discuss the possibility that physically distinct events may have been previously grouped together under the SLSN-I label.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 25 January 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 February 2018
Published date: 1 March 2018
Keywords: supernovae: general

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 421204
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/421204
ISSN: 0004-637X
PURE UUID: b15aaad2-a8df-4d41-ab3e-4dcdde2da74e
ORCID for Mark Sullivan: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9053-4820

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 May 2018 16:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:12

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Contributors

Author: Robert M. Quimby
Author: Annalisa De Cia
Author: Avishay Gal-Yam
Author: Giorgos Leloudas
Author: Ragnhild Lunnan
Author: Daniel A. Perley
Author: Paul M. Vreeswijk
Author: Lin Yan
Author: Joshua S. Bloom
Author: S. Bradley Cenko
Author: Jeff Cooke
Author: Richard Ellis
Author: Alexei V. Filippenko
Author: Mansi M. Kasliwal
Author: Io K.W. Kleiser
Author: Shrinivas R. Kulkarni
Author: Thomas Matheson
Author: Peter E. Nugent
Author: Yen Chen Pan
Author: Jeffrey M. Silverman
Author: Assaf Sternberg
Author: Mark Sullivan ORCID iD
Author: Ofer Yaron

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