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Kool EC, Johansson J, Sollerman J, Moldón J, Moriya TJ, Mattila S, Schulze S, Chomiuk L, Pérez-Torres M, Harris C, Lundqvist P, Graham M, Yang S, Perley DA, Strotjohann NL, Fremling C, Gal-Yam A, Lezmy J, Maguire K, Omand C, Smith M, Andreoni I, Bellm EC, Bloom JS, De K, Groom SL, Kasliwal MM, Masci FJ, Medford MS, Park S, Purdum J, Reynolds TM, Riddle R, Robert E, Ryder SD, Sharma Y, Stern D. A radio-detected type Ia supernova with helium-rich circumstellar material. Nature 2023; 617:477-482. [PMID: 37198310 PMCID: PMC10191849 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05916-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are thermonuclear explosions of degenerate white dwarf stars destabilized by mass accretion from a companion star1, but the nature of their progenitors remains poorly understood. A way to discriminate between progenitor systems is through radio observations; a non-degenerate companion star is expected to lose material through winds2 or binary interaction3 before explosion, and the supernova ejecta crashing into this nearby circumstellar material should result in radio synchrotron emission. However, despite extensive efforts, no type Ia supernova (SN Ia) has ever been detected at radio wavelengths, which suggests a clean environment and a companion star that is itself a degenerate white dwarf star4,5. Here we report on the study of SN 2020eyj, a SN Ia showing helium-rich circumstellar material, as demonstrated by its spectral features, infrared emission and, for the first time in a SN Ia to our knowledge, a radio counterpart. On the basis of our modelling, we conclude that the circumstellar material probably originates from a single-degenerate binary system in which a white dwarf accretes material from a helium donor star, an often proposed formation channel for SNe Ia (refs. 6,7). We describe how comprehensive radio follow-up of SN 2020eyj-like SNe Ia can improve the constraints on their progenitor systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik C Kool
- The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Joel Johansson
- The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm, Sweden
- The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jesper Sollerman
- The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Javier Moldón
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Granada, Spain
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Takashi J Moriya
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Mitaka, Japan
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Seppo Mattila
- Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- School of Sciences, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Steve Schulze
- The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Laura Chomiuk
- Center for Data Intensive and Time Domain Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Miguel Pérez-Torres
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Granada, Spain
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Chelsea Harris
- Center for Data Intensive and Time Domain Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Peter Lundqvist
- The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Matthew Graham
- Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Sheng Yang
- The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm, Sweden
- Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Daniel A Perley
- Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Nora Linn Strotjohann
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Christoffer Fremling
- Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Avishay Gal-Yam
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Jeremy Lezmy
- Univ. Lyon, Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, UMR 5822, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Kate Maguire
- School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Conor Omand
- The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mathew Smith
- Univ. Lyon, Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, UMR 5822, Villeurbanne, France
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Igor Andreoni
- Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - Eric C Bellm
- DIRAC Institute, Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Joshua S Bloom
- Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Kishalay De
- Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Steven L Groom
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Mansi M Kasliwal
- Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Frank J Masci
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Michael S Medford
- Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Sungmin Park
- Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, South Korea
| | - Josiah Purdum
- Caltech Optical Observatories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Thomas M Reynolds
- The Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Reed Riddle
- Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Estelle Robert
- Univ. Lyon, Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, UMR 5822, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Stuart D Ryder
- School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrophotonics Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Yashvi Sharma
- Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Daniel Stern
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
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