Origin of cosmic explosions

Villum Fondent Project
Project number 13261
Funding Period: Dec 2016 - Dec 2020
PI Associate Professor Maximilian Stritzinger
at the
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Aarhus University
Aarhus, Danmark


Tel:       +45 2499-9120
Fax:      +45 8612-0740
Email:  max--@--phys.au.dk


Project Summary

Supernovae (SN) are a linchpin for understanding the chemical evolution and star formation history of the Universe. However, key questions regarding the origins of SN persists and this proposal seeks to answer the question: What are the progenitor star systems of SN? This will be achieved by exploiting observations of SN discovered within hours to days of exploding by the "All-Sky Automated Survey for SN", which is for the first time in human history surveying the entire visible sky every other night. A key objective it to model the brightness evolution of infant SN to estimate their progenitor star's radius at the moment of explosion and thereby provide a direct indication of the type of star that exploded. We will also strive to obtain robust constraints on SN physics and identify any companion star, while 'flash spectroscopy' will unveil the nature of the circumstellar environment and the mass-loss history of the progenitors in the years prior to exploding.


Researchers

  • PI Maximilian Stritzinger
  • PhD student Simon Holmbo 2017-2020
  • ASAS-SN (All-Sky Automated Search for SN) team
  • NUTS (NOT [Nordic Optical Telescope] Un-biased Transient Survey) team

  • Refereed Publications Supported in full or in part by Villum Fonden funding:

    2020: 18 refereed publications
  • Moriya, Stritzinger et al. 2020, A&A, 641, 148. The Carnegie Supernova Project II. Observations of SN 2014ab possibly revealing a 2010jl-like SN IIn with pre-existing dust
  • Burrow et al. 2020, ApJ, 901, 154. Carnegie Supernova Project II: Classification of Type Ia Supernovae
  • Stritzinger et al. 2020, A&A, 639, 103. Carnegie Supernova Project II. Observations of the intermediate luminosity red transient SNhunt120
  • Uddin et al. 2020, ApJ, 901, 143. The Carnegie Supernova Project-I: Correlation between Type Ia Supernovae and Their Host Galaxies from Optical to Near-infrared Bands
  • Hsiao et al. 2020, ApJ, 900, 140. Carnegie Supernova Project II: The Slowest Rising Type Ia Supernova LSQ14fmg and Clues to the Origin of Super-Chandrasekhar/03fg-like Events
  • Stritzinger et al. 2020, A&A, 639, 104. Carnegie Supernova Project II. Observations of the Luminous Red Nova AT 2014ej
  • Burns et al. 2020, ApJ, 895, 118. SN 2013aa and SN 2017cbv: Two Sibling Type Ia Supernovae in the spiral galaxy NGC 5643
  • Tomasella, Stritzinger et al. 2020, MNRAS, 496, 1132. Observations of the low-luminosity Type Iax supernova 2019gsc: a fainter clone of SN 2008ha?
  • Taddia, Stritzinger et al. 2020, A&A, 638, 92. The Carnegie Supernova Project II. The shock wave revealed through the fog: The strongly interacting Type IIn SN 2013L
  • Rodriguez et al. 2020, MNRAS, 494, 5882. Luminous Type II supernovae with low expansion velocities
  • Fox et al. 2020, MNRAS, 498, 517. The slow deminse of the long-lived SN 2015ip
  • Ashall et al. 2020, ApJ Letters, 895, 3. Carnegie Supernova Project-II: A new method to photometrically identify sub-types of extreme Type Ia Supernovae
  • Reynolds et al. 2020, MNRAS, 493, 1761. SN 2016gsd: An unusually luminous and linear type II supernova with high velocities
  • Clark et al. 2020, MNRAS, 492, 2208. LSQ13ddu: A rapidly-evolving stripped-envelope supernova with early circumstellar interaction signatures
  • Chen, Dong, Stritzinger et al. 2020, ApJ Letters, 889, 6. The Most Rapidly-Declining Type I Supernova 2019bkc/ATLAS19dqr
  • Tucker et al. 2020, MNRAS, 492, 1044. Clearing the Smoke: Nebular Spectra of 111 Type Ia Supernovae disfavor single degenerate progenitors
  • Takaro et al. 2020, MNRAS, 493, 986. Constraining Type Iax Supernova Progenitor Systems with Stellar Population Aging
  • Stritzinger et al. 2020, A&A, 643, 21. The Carnegie Supernova Project-II. Early observations and progenitor constraints of the Type Ib supernova LSQ13abf

    2019: 19 refereed publications
  • Davis et al. 2019, ApJ, 887, 4. Carnegie Supernova Project-II. Near-infrared Spectroscopic Diversity of Type II Supernovae
  • Andrews et al. 2019, ApJ, 885, 43. SN 2017gmr: An energetic Type II-P supernova with asymmetries
  • Galbany et al. 2019, A&A, 720, 76. On the Ca-strong 1991bg-like type Ia supernova 2016hnk: evidence for a Chandrasekhar-mass explosion
  • Terreran et al., ApJ, 883, 147. SN 2016coi (ASASSN-16fp): an energetic H-stripped core-collapse supernova from a massive stellar progenitor with large mass loss
  • Onori et al. 2019, MNRAS, 489, 1463. Optical follow-up of the tidal disruption event iPTF16fnl
  • Pessi et al. 2019, MNRAS, 488, 4239. Comparison of the optical light curves of hydrogen-rich and hydrogen-poor type II supernovae
  • Ashall et al. 2019, MNRAS, 487, 582. GRB 16129B/SN 2016jca: a powerful stellar collapse
  • Valley et al. 2019, MNRAS, 487, 2372. ASASSN-18tb: A Most Unusual Type Ia Supernova Observed by TESS and SALT
  • Chen et al. 2019, ApJ, 880, 25. ASASSN-15pz: Revealing Significant Photometric Diversity Among 2009dc-like, Peculiar Type Ia Supernovae
  • Holmbo, Stritzinger et al. 2019, A&A, 627, 174. Discovery and progenitor constraints on the Type Ia supernova 2013gy
  • Ashall et al. 2019, ApJ, 878, 86. A Physical Basis for the H-band Blue-edge Velocity and Light-Curve Shape Correlation in Context of Type Ia Supernova Explosion Physics
  • Ashall et al. 2019, ApJ Letters, 875L, 14. Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to determine the location of the outer (56)Ni in Type Ia Supernovae
  • Holoien et al. 2019, MNRAS, 484, 1899. The ASAS-SN Bright Supernova Catalog - IV. 2017
  • Bose et al. 2019, ApJ Letters, 873, 3. Strongly Bipolar Inner Ejecta of the Normal Type IIP Supernova ASASSN-16at
  • Brown et al. 2019, MNRAS, 484, 3785. The Relative Specific Type Ia Supernovae Rate From Three Years of ASAS-SN
  • Shappee et al. 2019, ApJ, 870, 13. Seeing Double: ASASSN-18bt Exhibits a double-power-law Rise in the Early-Time K2 Light Curve
  • Scalzo et al. 2019, MNRAS, 483, 628. Probing type Ia supernova properties using bolometric light curves from the Carnegie Supernova Project and the CfA Supernova Group
  • Hsiao et al. 2019, PASP, 131, 4002. Carnegie Supernova Project-II: The Near-infrared Spectroscopy Program
  • Phillips et al. 2019, PASP, 131, 4001. Carnegie Supernova Project II: Extending the Near-Infrared Hubble Diagram for Type Ia Supernovae to z=0.1

    2018: 24 published refereed papers and 1 conference proceeding
  • Cain et al. 2018, ApJ, 869, 162. Investigating the Unusual Spectroscopic Time-Evolution in SN 2012fr
  • Burns et al. 2018, ApJ, 869, 56. The Carnegie Supernova Project: Absolute Calibration and the Hubble Constant
  • Anderson et al. 2018, A&A, 620, 67. A nearby superluminous supernova with a long pre-maximum plateau and strong C II features
  • Prentice et al. 2018, ApJ Letters, 865L, 3. The Cow: discovery of a luminous, hot and rapidly evolving transient
  • Stritzinger et al. 2018c, ApJ Letters, 864, 35. Red vs Blue: Early observations of thermonuclear supernovae reveal two distinct populations?
  • Cai et al. 2018, MNRAS, 480, 3424. AT 2017be - a new member of the class of Intermediate-Luminosity Red Transients
  • Diamond et al. 2018, ApJ, 861, 119. Near-infrared Spectral Evolution of SN 2014J in the Nebular Phase and Implications for the Progenitor System
  • Contreras et al. 2018, AJ, 859, 24. SN 2012fr: Ultraviolet, Optical, and Near-Infrared Light Curves of a Type Ia Supernova Observed Within a Day of First Light
  • Ashall et al. 2018, MNRAS, 477, 153. Abundance Tomography of the fast-declining type Ia supernovae SN 2007on and 2011iv
  • Anderson et al. 2018, Nature Astronomy, 2, 574. The lowest-metallicity type II supernova from the highest mass red-supergiant progenitor
  • de Jaeger et al. 2018, MNRAS, 476, 4592. Observed Type II supernova colours from the Carnegie Supernova Project-I
  • Mazzali et al. 2018, MNRAS, 476, 2905. The nebular spectra of the transitional Type Ia Supernovae 2007on and 2011iv: broad, multiple components indicate aspherical explosion cores
  • Gall, Stritzinger, et al. 2018, A&A, 611, 58. Two transitional type Ia supernovae located in the Fornax cluster member NGC 1404: SN 2007on and SN 2011iv
  • Pastorello et al. 2018, MNRAS, 474, 197. Supernovae 2016bdu and 2005gl, and their link with SN 2009ip-like transients: another piece of the puzzle
  • Lyman et al. 2018, MNRAS, 473, 1359. Investigating the diversity of supernovae type Iax: A MUSE and NOT spectroscopic study of their environments
  • Taddia, Stritzinger et al. 2018, A&A, 609, 136. The Carnegie Supernova Project I: analysis of stripped-envelope core-collapse supernova light curves
  • Stritzinger et al. 2018b, A&A, 609,135. The Carnegie Supernova Project I: Methods to estimate host-galaxy reddening of stripped-envelope supernovae
  • Stritzinger et al. 2018a, A&A, 609, 134. The Carnegie Supernova Project I: Photometry data release of low-redshift stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae
  • Vallely et al. 2018, MNRAS, 475, 2344. The highly luminous Type Ibn supernova ASASSN-14ms
  • Kuncarayakti et al. 2018, ApJ Letters, 854L, 14. SN 2017dio: A Type-Ic Supernova Exploding in a Hydrogen-rich Circumstellar Medium
  • Tartaglia et al. 2018, ApJ, 853, 62. The Early Detection and Follow-up of the Highly Obscured Type II Supernova 2016ija/DLT16am
  • Bose et al. 2018, ApJ, 853, 57. Gaia17biu/SN 2017egm in NGC 3191: The Closest Hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernova to Date Is in a "Normal," Massive, Metal-rich Spiral Galaxy
  • Karoff et al. 2018, ApJ, 852, 46. The Influence of Metallicity on Stellar Differential Rotation and Magnetic Activity
  • Sako et al. 2018, PASP, 130, 4002. The Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey
  • Stritzinger and Moriya 2018, Workshop 8: Supernovae, IAU Symposium 339, Southern Horizons in Time-Domain Astronomy, e-print: arXiv:1801.06643

    2017: 13 published refereed papers
  • Gutierrez et al. 2017b, ApJ, 850, 90. Type II Supernova Spectral Diversity. II. Spectroscopic and Photometeric Correlations
  • Gutierrez et al. 2017a, ApJ, 850, 89. Type II Supernova Spectral Diversity. I. Observations, Sample Characterization, and Spectral Line Evolution
  • Holoien et al. 2017, MNRAS, 471, 4966. The ASAS-SN Bright Supernova Catalog -- III. 2016
  • Krisciunas et al. 2017, AJ, 154, 211. The Carnegie Supernova Project I: Third Photometry Data Release of Low-Redshift Type Ia Supernovae and Other White Dwarf Explosions
  • Hosseinzadeh et al., 2017, ApJ Letters, 854, 11. Early Blue Excess from the Type Ia Supernova 2017cbv and Implications for its Progenitor
  • Jiang et al. 2017, Nature, 550, 80. A Hybrid Type Ia Supernova with Early Flash -- The Smoking Gun of Helium-Detonation Trigger
  • Hoeflich et al. 2017, ApJ, 846, 58. Light Curve Properties of Type Ia Supernovae: Theory vs. Observations or Taking the Magic out of CMAGIC, Twins, and other Flukes of Nature
  • Kangas et al. 2017, MNRAS, 469, 1246. Gaia16apd -- a link between fast-and slowly-declining type I superluminous supernovae
  • Leloudas et al. 2017, ApJ Letters, 837, 14. Polarimetry of the superluminous SN 2015bn with the Nordic Optical Telescope
  • Brown et al. 2017, ApJ, 836, 232. Reddened, Redshifted, or Intrinsically Red? Understanding Near-Ultraviolet Colors of Type Ia supernovae
  • Tartaglia et al. 2017, ApJ Letters, 836, 12. The progenitor and early evolution of the Type IIb SN 2016gkg
  • de Jaeger et al. 2017, ApJ, 835, 166. A Type II Supernova Hubble diagram from the CSP-I, SDSS-II, and SNLS surveys
  • Pian et al. 2017, MNRAS, 466, 1848. Optical photometry and spectroscopy of the low-luminosity, broad-lined Ic supernova iPTF15dld

    Project Activities

    2020
  • covid-19 pandemic
  • Led new supernova followup pilot project using ZTF and Alerce data stream, April-May
  • Hosted small workshop on software development, Ebeltoft, DK, March 2020
  • 2019
  • PI and PhD contributions talks at NUTS2 workshop, Padua, Italy, October 2019
  • PI extended contribution talk at transient conference ESO, Garching, Germany, September 2019
  • Group hosted team meeting Boulder, Colorado, USA, July 2019
  • PI and PhD contributions talks at CSP-II team meeting, St. George Island, Florida, USA, Feburary 2019

  • 2018
  • PI Contribution talk at Massive Stars and Supernovae, Argentine, November 2018
  • PI Research visits to European Southern Obsrvatory, Garching, Germany, September 2018
  • PI Research visit to Stockholm Observatory, Sweden, October 2018
  • Co-hosted CSP team meeting at University of Hawaii, HI, USA, Late July (PI, PhD)
  • Sabbatical at University of Hawaii, HI, USA, May 6 - July 29 (PI)
  • Research visit Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA, USA, May 1-6 (PI)
  • Invited Talk at workshop: New advances in NIR type Ia supernova science, Pittsburg, PA, USA, April 10-13 (PI)
  • Invited Review Talk at 2018 EWASS (European Week of Astronomy and Space Sciences) meeting, Liverpool, UK, April 3-5 (PI)
  • Hosting NUTS team meeting at Aarhus University, Denmark, March 6-9 (PI)

  • 2017
  • Hosted the Carnegie Supernova Project II Retreat 2017 at Sandbjerg Gods which included 19 Astronomers, Denmark, July 31 - August 4 (PI, Phd student)
  • Presented poster and co-chaired Workshop 8: Supernovae at the IAU Symposium 339 "Southern Horizons in Time-Domain Astronomy"Click here for conference proceeding, Sutherland, South Africa, Novermber 9-13 (PI)
  • Talk at CSP workshop at Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, California, USA (PI, Phd student)
  • Talk at CSP team meeting Sandbjerg, Denmark (PI, Phd Student)
  • Talk at ASAS-SN team meeting, Columbus, OH. USA (PI)
  • Talk at the NUTS team meeting Stockholm, Sweden (PI)
  • Expansion of ASAS-SN with 3 additional units, making the global network now at 5 units
  • Research visits: The University of Oklahoma, Norman OK, USA (PI), and the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA (PI)

  • Visitors

  • C. Burns, Carnegie Observatories, USA: March 2020
  • L. Galbany, Un. of Granada, Spain: March 2020
  • S. Schultz, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel: September 2019
  • C. Ashall, University of Hawaii, USA
  • G. Leloudas, DTU Space, Denmark, October 2018
  • S. Schulze, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel: October 2018
  • Takashi Moriya, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, Japan: October 2018
  • Francesco Taddia, Stockholm Observatory, Stockholm, Sweden: October 2018
  • Eddie Baron on sabbatical visit from The Un. of Oklaholma, OK, USA: Funded by Aarhus University College of Science and Technology from Sept. 15 to Dec. 15.
  • Paolo Mazzali, James Moore Un., Liverpool, England: August 2018
  • Subo Dong, Peking University, Beijing, China: March 2018
  • Elena Pian, Un. of Pisa, Italy: July-August 2018
  • S. Schulze, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel: August 2018
  • Elena Pian, Un. of Pisa, Italy: July-August 2017
  • Christopher Ashall, James Moore Un., Liverpool, England: July-August 2017
  • Paolo Mazzali, James Moore Un., Liverpool, England: July-August 2017
  • Takashi Moriya, University of Bonn: July-August 2017
  • Francesco Taddia, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden: A week in March 2017
  • Joe Lyman, University of Warwick, UK: A week in March 2017
  • Joel Johansson, Wiezmann Institute of Science, Israel: A few days in Feburary 2017
  • Giorgos Leloudas, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel: A few days in Janurary 2017