Reconciling the infrared catastrophe and observations of SN 2011fe

Abstract

The observational effects of the 'Infrared Catastrophe' are discussed in view of the very late observations of the Type Ia SN 2011fe. Our model spectra at 1000d take non-local radiative transfer into account, and find that this has a crucial impact on the spectral formation. Although rapid cooling of the ejecta to a few 100 K occurs also in these models, the late-time optical/NIR flux is brighter by 1-2 magnitudes due to redistribution of UV emissivity, resulting from non-thermal excitation and ionization. This effect brings models into better agreement with late-time observations of SN 2011fe and other Type Ia supernovae, and offers a solution to the long standing discrepancy between models and observations. The models show that spectral formation shifts from Fe II and Fe III at 300d to Fe I at 1000d, which explains the apparent wavelength shifts seen in SN2011fe. We discuss effects of time dependence and energy input from 57Co, finding both to be important at 1000d.

5 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

References in corpus (5)

• Late-time spectral line formation in Type IIb supernovae, with application to SN 1993J, SN 2008ax, and SN 2011dh
• Nebular spectra and abundance tomography of the type Ia supernova SN 2011fe: a normal SN Ia with a stable Fe core
• Constraining the Progenitor Companion of the Nearby Type Ia SN 2011fe with a Nebular Spectrum at +981 Days
• Spectroscopy of the Type Ia supernova 2011fe past 1000 days
• Very late photometry of SN 2011fe

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