An Extremely Bright Echo Associated With SN 2002hh

Abstract

We present new, very late-time optical photometry and spectroscopy of the interesting Type II-P supernova, SN 2002hh, in NGC 6946. Gemini/GMOS-N has been used to acquire visible spectra at six epochs between 2004 August and 2006 July, following the evolution of the SN from age 661 to 1358 days. Few optical spectra of Type II supernovae with ages greater than one year exist. In addition, g'r'i' images were acquired at all six epochs. The spectral and photometric evolution of SN 2002hh has been very unusual. Measures of the brightness of this SN, both in the R and I bands as well as in the H-alpha emission flux, show no significant fading over an interval of nearly two years. The most straightforward explanation for this behavior is that the light being measured comes not only from the SN itself but also from an echo off of nearby dust. Echoes have been detected previously around several SNe but these echoes, at their brightest, were ~8 mag below the maximum brightness of the SN. At V~21 mag, the putative echo dominates the light of SN 2002hh and is only ~4 mag below the outburst's peak brightness. There is an estimated 6 magnitudes of total extinction in V towards SN 2002hh. The proposed explanation of a differential echo/SN absorption is inconsistent with the observed BVRI colors.

24 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in the ApJ

References in corpus (15)

• The Photometric Performance and Calibration of the HST Advanced Camera For Surveys
• Photometry and Spectroscopy of the Type IIP SN 1999em from Outburst to Dust Formation
• Massive-Star Supernovae as Major Dust Factories
• Photometric and spectroscopic evolution of the type IIP supernova SN 2004et
• On the source of the late-time infrared luminosity of SN 1998S and other type II supernovae
• Dust around Type Ia supernovae
• Detection of CO and Dust Emission in Near-Infrared Spectra of SN 1998S
• Optical and infrared observations of the Type IIP SN2002hh from day 3 to 397
• Reflections on Reflexions: I. Light Echoes in Type Ia Supernovae
• Observability of Scattered-Light Echoes Around Variable Stars and Cataclysmic Events
• A Spitzer Space Telescope study of SN 2002hh: an infrared echo from a Type IIP supernova
• Reflections on Reflexions: II. Effects of Light Echoes on the luminosity and spectra of Type Ia Supernovae
• Detection of a massive dust shell around the Type II supernova SN 2002hh
• The Light Echo Around Supernova 2003gd in Messier 74
• Measuring Extinction Curves of Lensing Galaxies

Cited by in corpus (26)

• The search for failed supernovae with the Large Binocular Telescope: confirmation of a disappearing star
• The Search for Failed Supernovae with The Large Binocular Telescope: First Candidates
• Spectral Identification of an Ancient Supernova using Light Echoes in the LMC
• Supernova 2008bk and Its Red Supergiant Progenitor
• SN 2007od: A Type IIP SN with Circumstellar Interaction
• The Detection of a Light Echo from the Type Ia Supernova 2006X in M100
• Unmasking the Supernova Impostors
• Photometric and Spectroscopic Evolution of the Type IIP SN 2007it to Day 944
• The effects of dust on the optical and infrared evolution of SN 2004et
• After the Fall: Late-Time Spectroscopy of Type IIP Supernovae
• The destruction and survival of dust in the shell around SN 2008S
• Early Dust Formation and a Massive Progenitor for SN 2011ja?
• Disentangling Dust Components in SN 2010jl: The First 1400 Days
• Late-time Light Curves of Type II Supernovae: Physical Properties of SNe and Their Environment
• Thirty years of SN 1980K: Evidence for light echoes
• Interstellar-Medium Mapping in M82 Through Light Echoes Around Supernova 2014J
• An Echo of Supernova 2008bk
• Dust to Dust: 3 years in the Evolution of the Unusual SN 2008S
• Light Echoes of Transients and Variables in the Local Universe
• Optical and Infrared Analysis of Type II SN 2006BC
• On the Interpretation of Supernova Light Echo Profiles and Spectra
• The Late Time Optical Evolution of Twelve Core-Collapse Supernovae: Detection of Normal Stellar Winds
• Family dispute: do Type IIP supernova siblings agree on their distance?
• Light Echoes of Historic Transients
• A Search for Supernova Light Echoes in NGC 6946 with SITELLE
• Prospects for Studies of Stellar Evolution and Stellar Death in the JWST Era