Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Supernovae: The First Two Years of Swift Observations

Abstract

We present the entire sample of ultraviolet (UV) spectra of supernovae (SNe) obtained with the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on board the Swift satellite during the first 2 years of observations (2005/2006). A total of 29 UV-grism and 22 V-grism spectra of 9 supernovae (SNe) have been collected, of which 6 are thermonuclear (type Ia) and 3 core collapse (type Ibc/II) SNe. All the spectra have been obtained during the photospheric phase. After a comparison of the spectra of our sample with those in the literature (SNe 1992A, 1990N and 1999em), we confirm some degree of diversity in the UV emission of Type Ia SNe and a greater homogeneity in the Type II Plateau SN sample. Signatures of interaction between the ejecta and the circumstellar environment have been found in the UV spectrum of SN 2006jc, the only SN Type Ib/c for which UVOT grism data are available. Currently, Swift UVOT is the best suited instrument for early SN studies in the UV due to its fast response and flexible scheduling capabilities. However, in order to increase the quality of the data and significantly improve our understanding of the UV properties of SNe and to fully maximize the scientific potential of UVOT grism observations, a larger investment in observing time and longer exposures are needed.

64 pages, 18 figures, accepted to ApJ

References in corpus (23)

• A giant outburst two years before the core-collapse of a massive star
• SN 2006jc: A Wolf-Rayet Star Exploding in a Dense He-Rich Circumstellar Medium
• From Shock Breakout to Peak and Beyond: Extensive Panchromatic Observations of the Type Ib Supernova 2008D associated with Swift X-ray Transient 080109
• The metamorphosis of Supernova SN2008D/XRF080109: a link between Supernovae and GRBs/Hypernovae
• The Peculiar SN 2005hk: Do Some Type Ia Supernovae Explode as Deflagrations?
• Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium. I. Type Ibn (SN 2006jc-like) events
• Optical and Near-Infrared Observations of the Highly Reddened, Rapidly Expanding Type Ia Supernova 2006X in M100
• Using Quantitative Spectroscopic Analysis to Determine the Properties and Distances of Type II-Plateau Supernovae: SNe 2005cs and 2006bp
• Supernova Shock Breakout from a Red Supergiant
• The underluminous Type Ia Supernova 2005bl and the class of objects similar to SN 1991bg
• SN 2006bp: Probing the Shock Breakout of a Type II-P Supernova
• Probing Shock Breakout with Serendipitous GALEX Detections of Two SNLS Type II-P Supernovae
• ESC observations of SN 2005cf. I. Photometric Evolution of a Normal Type Ia Supernova
• The evolution of the peculiar Type Ia supernova SN 2005hk over 400 days
• Swift and Chandra Detections of Supernova 2006jc: Evidence for Interaction of the Supernova Shock with a Circumstellar Shell
• Spectropolarimetry of the Peculiar Type Ia SN 2005hk
• ESC observations of SN 2005cf: II. Optical Spectroscopy and the high velocity features
• Luminosity Indicators in the Ultraviolet Spectra of Type Ia Supernovae
• Did we observe the supernova shock breakout in GRB 060218?
• Optical photometry and spectroscopy of the type Ibn supernova SN 2006jc until the onset of dust formation
• GALEX Spectroscopy of SN 2005ay suggests a UV spectral uniformity among type II-P supernovae
• The Peculiar Type Ia Supernova 2005hk
• Ultraviolet Observations of Supernovae

Cited by in corpus (25)

• Design and operation of the ATLAS Transient Science Server
• SOUSA: the Swift Optical/Ultraviolet Supernova Archive
• Absolute-Magnitude Distributions of Supernovae
• Astrophysical Ionizing Radiation and the Earth: A Brief Review and Census of Intermittent Intense Sources
• Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium. IV. Transitional Type Ibn Supernovae
• No trace of a single-degenerate companion in late spectra of SNe 2011fe and 2014J
• Far-Ultraviolet to Near-Infrared Observations of SN 2023ixf: A high energy explosion engulfed in complex circumstellar material
• SN2019dge: a Helium-rich Ultra-Stripped Envelope Supernova
• Supernova 2010as: the Lowest-Velocity Member of a Family of Flat-Velocity Type IIb Supernovae
• Alleviating the need for exponential evolution of JWST galaxies in 10${}^{10}{M}_{\odot }$ haloes at $z>10$ by a modified $\Lambda$CDM power spectrum
• The Swift-UVOT ultraviolet and visible grism calibration
• Precision Measurement of The Most Distant Spectroscopically Confirmed Supernova Ia with the Hubble Space Telescope
• Ultraviolet Observations of Super-Chandrasekhar Mass Type Ia Supernova Candidates with Swift UVOT
• Terrestrial Effects Of Nearby Supernovae In The Early Pleistocene
• Spectral modeling of type II supernovae II. A machine learning approach to quantitative spectroscopic analysis
• The Changing Fractions of Type Ia Supernova NUV-Optical Subclasses with Redshift
• The changing-type SN 2014C may come from an 11-$M_{\odot }$ star stripped by binary interaction and violent eruption
• Early-Time Ultraviolet Spectroscopy and Optical Follow-up Observations of the Type IIP Supernova 2021yja
• Testing for redshift evolution of Type Ia supernovae using the strongly lensed PS1-10afx at $z=1.4$
• Building spectral templates and reconstructing parameters for core collapse supernovae with CASTOR
• Physical properties of long-rising type II supernovae -- Bayesian analytic modeling and spectrophotometric correlations
• The impact of ultraviolet suppression on the rates and properties of strongly lensed Type IIn supernovae detected by LSST
• iPTF16geu through the lens of thermonuclear explosion models
• Progenitor and Close-In Circumstellar Medium of Type II Supernova 2020fqv from High-Cadence Photometry and Ultra-Rapid UV Spectroscopy
• Ultraviolet Spectroscopy and TARDIS Models of the Broad-lined Type-Ic Supernova 2014ad