Late-Time HST Photometry of SN 1994I: Hints of Positron Annihilation Energy Deposition

Abstract

We present multicolor Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFPC2 broadband observations of the Type Ic SN 1994I obtained approximately 280 days after maximum light. We measure the brightness of the SN and, relying on the detailed spectroscopic database of SN 1994I, we transform the ground-based photometry obtained at early times to the HST photometric system, deriving light curves for the WFPC2 F439W, F555W, F675W, and F814W passbands that extend from 7 days before to 280 days after maximum. We use the multicolor photometry to build a quasi-bolometric light curve of SN 1994I, and compare it with similarly constructed light curves of other supernovae. In doing so, we propose and test a scaling in energy and time that allows for a more meaningful comparison of the exponential tails of different events. Through comparison with models, we find that the late-time light curve of SN 1994I is consistent with that of spherically symmetric ejecta in homologous expansion, for which the ability to trap the Gamma-rays produced by the radioactive decay of 56Co diminishes roughly as the inverse of time squared. We also find that by the time of the HST photometry, the light curve was significantly energized by the annihilation of positrons.

arXiv commentTo appear in PASP

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• The He-rich core-collapse supernova 2007Y: Observations from X-ray to Radio Wavelengths
• Analysis of Late--time Light Curves of Type IIb, Ib and Ic Supernovae
• Integral field spectroscopy of supernova explosion sites: constraining mass and metallicity of the progenitors - I. Type Ib and Ic supernovae
• Interpreting Flux from Broadband Photometry
• Constraints on the Binary Companion to the SN Ic 1994I Progenitor
• Evidence for magnetar formation in broad-lined type Ic supernovae 1998bw and 2002ap