The High-Metallicity Explosion Environment of the Relativistic Supernova 2009bb

Abstract

We investigate the environment of the nearby (d ~ 40Mpc) broad-lined Type Ic supernova SN 2009bb. This event was observed to produce a relativistic outflow likely powered by a central accreting compact object. While such a phenomenon was previously observed only in long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs), no LGRB was detected in association with SN 2009bb. Using an optical spectrum of the SN 2009bb explosion site, we determine a variety of ISM properties for the host environment, including metallicity, young stellar population age, and star formation rate. We compare the SN explosion site properties to observations of LGRB and broad-lined SN Ic host environments on optical emission line ratio diagnostic diagrams. Based on these analyses, we find that the SN 2009bb explosion site has a very high metallicity of ~2x solar, in agreement with other broad-lined SN Ic host environments and at odds with the low-redshift LGRB host environments and recently proposed maximum metallicity limits for relativistic explosions. We consider the implications of these findings and the impact that SN 2009bb's unusual explosive properties and environment have on our understanding of the key physical ingredient that enables some SNe to produce a relativistic outflow.

arXiv comment7 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in ApJ Letters (replaced to include missing figure)

References in corpus (27)

• Maps of Dust IR Emission for Use in Estimation of Reddening and CMBR Foregrounds
• Star Formation in Galaxies Along the Hubble Sequence
• The Host Galaxies and Classification of Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Supernova -- Gamma-Ray Burst Connection
• Gamma-Ray Bursts and the Fireball Model
• Using Strong Lines to Estimate Abundances in Extragalactic HII Regions and Starburst Galaxies
• The Palomar Transient Factory: System Overview, Performance and First Results
• The IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample (RBGS)
• The Progenitor Stars of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Supernovae, Jets, and Collapsars
• Optimal Techniques in Two-dimensional Spectroscopy: Background Subtraction for the 21st Century
• Relativistic ejecta from XRF 060218 and the rate of cosmic explosions
• Single star progenitors of long gamma-ray bursts I: Model grids and redshift dependent GRB rate
• On the metallicity dependence of Wolf-Rayet winds
• New Models for Wolf-Rayet and O Star Populations in Young Starbursts
• Radio sources in the 6dFGS: Local luminosity functions at 1.4 GHz for star-forming galaxies and radio-loud AGN
• Measured Metallicities at the Sites of Nearby Broad-Lined Type Ic Supernovae and Implications for the SN-GRB Connection
• On the Rates of Gamma Ray Bursts and Type Ib/c Supernovae
• SN 2008ha: An Extremely Low Luminosity and Extremely Low Energy Supernova
• The VLT-FLAMES survey of massive stars: Surface chemical compositions of B-type stars in the Magellanic Clouds
• Characterizing Supernova Progenitors via the Metallicities of their Host Galaxies, from Poor Dwarfs to Rich Spirals
• Radio-to-FIR Spectral Energy Distribution and Photometric Redshifts for Dusty Starburst Galaxies
• Long Gamma-Ray Bursts and Type Ic Core Collapse Supernovae Have Similar Locations in Hosts
• The Proto-neutron Star Phase of the Collapsar Model and the Route to Long-soft Gamma-ray Bursts and Hypernovae
• IFU observations of the GRB 980425/SN 1998bw host galaxy: emission line ratios in GRB regions
• The metallicity dependence of the long-duration GRB rate from host galaxy luminosities
• Modeling The GRB Host Galaxy Mass Distribution: Are GRBs Unbiased Tracers of Star Formation?

Cited by in corpus (27)

• The First Systematic Study of Type Ibc Supernova Multi-band Light Curves
• Connecting the Gamma Ray Burst Rate and the Cosmic Star Formation History: Implications for Reionization and Galaxy Evolution
• The Host Galaxies of Gamma-Ray Bursts II: A Mass-Metallicity Relation for Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies
• Progenitor Diagnostics for Stripped Core-Collapse Supernovae: Measured Metallicities at Explosion Sites
• A High-Metallicity Host Environment for the Long-Duration GRB 020819
• The Metal Aversion of LGRBs
• Relativistic supernovae have shorter-lived central engines or more extended progenitors: the case of SN\,2012ap
• A Comprehensive Analysis of Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Data: III. Energy-Dependent T90 Distributions of GBM GRBs and Instrumental Selection Effect on Duration Classification
• A Spectroscopic Study of Type Ibc Supernova Host Galaxies from Untargeted Surveys
• SN 2009bb: a Peculiar Broad-Lined Type Ic Supernova
• Observational constraints on the progenitor metallicities of core-collapse supernovae
• The Broad-Lined Type Ic SN 2012ap and the Nature of Relativistic Supernovae Lacking a Gamma-ray Burst Detection
• Constraints on core-collapse supernova progenitors from explosion site integral field spectroscopy
• The Double-Peaked SN2013ge: a Type Ib/c SN with an Asymmetric Mass Ejection or an Extended Progenitor Envelope
• Metallicity in the GRB 100316D/SN 2010bh Host Complex
• No Correlation Between Host Galaxy Metallicity and Gamma-Ray Energy Release for Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Stellar Forensics with the Supernova-GRB Connection
• SN 2010ay is a Luminous and Broad-lined Type Ic Supernova within a Low-metallicity Host Galaxy
• Exploring the Properties of Choked Gamma-Ray Bursts with IceCube's High Energy Neutrinos
• Rotating Wolf-Rayet stars in a post RSG/LBV phase. An evolutionary channel towards long-duration GRBs?
• Nearby supernova host galaxies from the CALIFA Survey: II. SN environmental metallicity
• The Arduous Journey to Black-Hole Formation in Potential Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitors
• Interaction Between The Broad-lined Type Ic Supernova 2012ap and Carriers of Diffuse Interstellar Bands
• A Multivariate Fit Luminosity Function and World Model for Long GRBs
• Host Galaxy Properties of the Subluminous GRB 120422A/SN 2012bz
• Relativistic supernova 2009bb exploded close to an atomic gas cloud
• Type Ib/c Supernovae with and without Gamma-Ray Bursts