Physical Dust Models for the Extinction toward Supernova 2014J in M82

Abstract

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are powerful cosmological "standardizable candles" and the most precise distance indicators. However, a limiting factor in their use for precision cosmology rests on our ability to correct for the dust extinction toward them. SN 2014J in the starburst galaxy M82, the closest detected SN~Ia in three decades, provides unparalleled opportunities to study the dust extinction toward an SN Ia. In order to derive the extinction as a function of wavelength, we model the color excesses toward SN 2014J, which are observationally derived over a wide wavelength range in terms of dust models consisting of a mixture of silicate and graphite. The resulting extinction laws steeply rise toward the far ultraviolet, even steeper than that of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We infer a visual extinction of $A_V\approx 1.9\mathrm{mag}$, a reddening of $E(B-V)\approx 1.1\mathrm{mag}$, and a total-to-selective extinction ratio of $R_V\approx 1.7$, consistent with that previously derived from photometric, spectroscopic, and polarimetric observations. The size distributions of the dust in the interstellar medium toward SN 2014J are skewed toward substantially smaller grains than that of the Milky Way and the SMC.

8 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Because of the space limitation of ApJL, Table 2, which tabulates the recommended extinction as a function of wavelength, is only published in this arxiv version

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Interstellar-Medium Mapping in M82 Through Light Echoes Around Supernova 2014J
• Estimating dust distances to Type Ia supernovae from colour excess time-evolution
• Properties of interstellar dust responsible for extinction laws with unusually low total-to-selective extinction ratios of Rv=1-2
• Dust Extinction towards the Type Ia Supernova 2012cu in NGC 4772
• On the Time Variation of Dust Extinction and Gas Absorption for Type~Ia Supernovae Observed Through Non-uniform Interstellar Medium