SN 1999ga: a low-luminosity linear type II supernova?

Abstract

Type II-linear supernovae are thought to arise from progenitors that have lost most of their H envelope by the time of the explosion, and they are poorly understood because they are only occasionally discovered. It is possible that they are intrinsically rare, but selection effects due to their rapid luminosity evolution may also play an important role in limiting the number of detections. In this context, the discovery of a subluminous type II-linear event is even more interesting. We investigate the physical properties and characterise the explosion site of the type II SN 1999ga, which exploded in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2442. Spectroscopic and photometric observations of SN 1999ga allow us to constrain the energetics of the explosion and to estimate the mass of the ejected material, shedding light on the nature of the progenitor star in the final stages of its life. The study of the environment in the vicinity of the explosion site provides information on a possible relation between these unusual supernovae and the properties of the galaxies hosting them. Despite the lack of early-time observations, we provide reasonable evidence that SN 1999ga was probably a type II-linear supernova that ejected a few solar masses of material, with a very small amount of radioactive elements of the order of 0.01 solar masses.

11 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A (March 28, 2009)

References in corpus (19)

• The death of massive stars - I. Observational constraints on the progenitors of type II-P supernovae
• No supernovae associated with two long-duration gamma ray bursts
• A giant outburst two years before the core-collapse of a massive star
• An enigmatic long-lasting gamma-ray burst not accompanied by a bright supernova
• SN 2006jc: A Wolf-Rayet Star Exploding in a Dense He-Rich Circumstellar Medium
• SN 2005ap: A Most Brilliant Explosion
• SN 2005cs in M51 II. Complete Evolution in the Optical and the Near-Infrared
• Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium. I. Type Ibn (SN 2006jc-like) events
• Photometric and spectroscopic evolution of the type IIP supernova SN 2004et
• The type IIb SN 2008ax: the nature of the progenitor
• The type IIb SN 2008ax: spectral and light curve evolution
• The Disappearance of the Progenitors of Supernovae 1993J and 2003gd
• Time-dependent Effects in Photospheric-Phase Type II Supernova Spectra
• A deeper search for the progenitor of the Type Ic Supernova 2002ap
• Type IIP Supernova SN 2004et: A Multi-Wavelength Study in X-Ray, Optical and Radio
• Observations and analysis of two type IIP supernovae: the intrinsically faint object SN 2005cs and the ambiguous object SN 2005ay
• The birth place of the type Ic Supernova 2007gr
• Constraining the mass of the GRB 030329 progenitor
• X-ray Evolution of SN 1987A

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Connecting the progenitors, pre-explosion variability, and giant outbursts of luminous blue variables with Gaia16cfr
• SN 2012ec: mass of the progenitor from PESSTO follow-up of the photospheric phase
• The early discovery of SN 2017ahn: signatures of persistent interaction in a fast declining Type II supernova
• The Iron Yield of Normal Type II Supernovae
• Luminosity distribution of Type II supernova progenitors
• Photometric and spectroscopic evolution of the interacting transient AT 2016jbu (Gaia16cfr)
• SN 2008jb: A "Lost" Core-Collapse Supernova in a Star-Forming Dwarf Galaxy at ~10 Mpc
• Progenitor, environment, and modelling of the interacting transient, AT 2016jbu (Gaia16cfr)
• Star formation and dust obscuration in the tidally distorted galaxy NGC 2442