Constraining the Progenitor System of the Type Ia Supernova 2021aefx

Abstract

We present high-cadence optical and ultraviolet light curves of the normal Type Ia supernova (SN) 2021aefx, which shows an early bump during the first two days of observation. This bump may be a signature of interaction between the exploding white dwarf and a nondegenerate binary companion, or it may be intrinsic to the white dwarf explosion mechanism. In the case of the former, the short duration of the bump implies a relatively compact main-sequence companion star, although this conclusion is viewing-angle dependent. Our best-fit companion-shocking and double-detonation models both overpredict the UV luminosity during the bump, and existing nickel-shell models do not match the strength and timescale of the bump. We also present nebular spectra of SN 2021aefx, which do not show the hydrogen or helium emission expected from a nondegenerate companion, as well as a radio nondetection that rules out all symbiotic progenitor systems and most accretion disk winds. Our analysis places strong but conflicting constraints on the progenitor of SN 2021aefx; no current model can explain all of our observations.

arXiv commentupdated to match accepted version

References in corpus (107)

• Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant
• Measurements of Omega and Lambda from 42 High-Redshift Supernovae
• emcee: The MCMC Hammer
• Measuring Reddening with SDSS Stellar Spectra and Recalibrating SFD
• Binary companions of evolved stars in APOGEE DR14: Search method and catalog of ~5,000 companions
• LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
• Correcting for the Effects of Interstellar Extinction
• The Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope
• Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network
• Observational clues to the progenitors of Type-Ia supernovae
• SALT2: using distant supernovae to improve the use of Type Ia supernovae as distance indicators
• Improved Distances to Type Ia Supernovae with Multicolor Light Curve Shapes: MLCS2k2
• The Reddening-Free Decline Rate Versus Luminosity Relationship for Type Ia Supernovae
• Homogeneous Photometry for Star Clusters and Resolved Galaxies. II. Photometric Standard Stars
• Three-dimensional delayed-detonation models with nucleosynthesis for Type Ia supernovae
• Determining the Type, Redshift, and Age of a Supernova Spectrum
• Supernova 2011fe from an Exploding Carbon-Oxygen White Dwarf Star
• The Thirteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-IV Survey MApping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory
• An Empirical Relation between Sodium Absorption and Dust Extinction
• Normal Type Ia supernovae from violent mergers of white dwarf binaries
• Double-detonation sub-Chandrasekhar supernovae: can minimum helium shell masses detonate the core?
• Seeing the Collision of a Supernova with its Companion Star
• The diversity of Type II supernova versus the similarity in their progenitors
• Type Ia Supernova Explosions in Binary Systems: The Impact on the Secondary Star and its Consequences
• PTF11kx: A Type-Ia Supernova with a Symbiotic Nova Progenitor
• Sub-Chandrasekhar Mass Models For Type Ia Supernovae
• Constraints on the Progenitor System of the Type Ia Supernova SN 2011fe/PTF11kly
• Circumstellar Emission from Type Ib and Ic Supernovae
• A Compact Degenerate Primary-Star Progenitor of SN 2011fe
• The Diversity of Type Ia Supernovae from Broken Symmetries
• Comparative Direct Analysis of Type Ia Supernova Spectra. II. Maximum Light
• Head-on collisions of white dwarfs in triple systems could explain type Ia supernova
• SiFTO: An Empirical Method for Fitting SNe Ia Light Curves
• Constraining Type Ia supernova models: SN 2011fe as a test case
• Gemini Spectroscopy of Supernovae from SNLS: Improving High Redshift SN Selection and Classification
• Strong Ultraviolet Pulse From a Newborn Type Ia Supernova
• The first month of evolution of the slow rising type II-P SN 2013ej in M74
• Type Ia Supernovae as Stellar Endpoints and Cosmological Tools
• Observational Predictions for Sub-Chandrasekhar Mass Explosions: Further Evidence for Multiple Progenitor Systems for Type Ia Supernovae
• Evidence for Two Distinct Populations of Type Ia Supernovae
• Are the Models for Type Ia Supernova Progenitors Consistent with the Properties of Supernova Remnants?
• The Blue Tip of the Stellar Locus: Measuring Reddening with the SDSS
• Single-degenerate type Ia supernovae without hydrogen contamination
• SN~2012cg: Evidence for Interaction Between a Normal Type Ia Supernova and a Non-Degenerate Binary Companion
• Observational Properties of Thermonuclear Supernovae
• The Ignition of Carbon Detonations via Converging Shock Waves in White Dwarfs
• Spin-Up/Spin-Down models for Type Ia Supernovae
• ESC Supernova spectroscopy of non-ESC targets
• Early Blue Excess from the Type Ia Supernova 2017cbv and Implications for Its Progenitor
• Off-center ignition in type Ia supernova: I. Initial evolution and implications for delayed detonation
• Impact of type ia supernova ejecta on binary companions in the single-degenerate scenario
• A hybrid type Ia supernova with an early flash triggered by helium-shell detonation
• One-dimensional delayed-detonation models of Type Ia supernovae: Confrontation to observations at bolometric maximum
• A Study of Carbon Features in Type Ia Supernova Spectra
• The early detection and follow-up of the highly obscured Type II supernova 2016ija/DLT16am
• Exploring the Potential Diversity of Early Type Ia Supernova Light Curves
• Three-dimensional simulations of the interaction between Type Ia supernova ejecta and their main sequence companions
• A Deep Search for Prompt Radio Emission from Thermonuclear Supernovae with the Very Large Array
• On the Thermonuclear Runaway in Type Ia Supernovae: How to run away?
• Constraints on the explosion mechanism and progenitors of type Ia supernovae
• K2 Observations of SN 2018oh Reveal a Two-Component Rising Light Curve for a Type Ia Supernova
• MN48: a new Galactic bona fide luminous blue variable revealed by Spitzer and SALT
• Optical Observations of the Type Ia Supernova 2011fe in M101 for Nearly 500 Days
• The resolved stellar populations in the LEGUS galaxies
• The impact of Type Ia supernova explosions on helium companions in the Chandrasekhar-mass explosion scenario
• Seeing Double: ASASSN-18bt Exhibits a Two-Component Rise in the Early-Time K2 Light Curve
• Photometric and Spectroscopic Properties of Type Ia Supernova 2018oh with Early Excess Emission from the $Kepler$ 2 Observations
• Unburned Material in the Ejecta of Type Ia Supernovae
• Searching for swept-up Hydrogen and Helium in the late-time spectra of 11 nearby Type Ia supernovae
• Carbon Detection in Early-Time Optical Spectra of Type Ia Supernovae
• Hydrogen and helium in the spectra of Type Ia supernovae
• A search for HI absorption in nearby radio galaxies using HIPASS
• No trace of a single-degenerate companion in late spectra of SNe 2011fe and 2014J
• Strong Evidence Against A Non-Degenerate Companion in SN 2012cg
• Multidimensional Models of Type Ia Supernova Nebular Spectra: Strong Emission Lines from Stripped Companion Gas Rule Out Classic Single Degenerate Systems
• Impact of Type Ia Supernova Ejecta on a Helium-star Binary Companion
• Multi-Dimensional Radiative Transfer Calculations of Double Detonations of Sub-Chandrasekhar-Mass White Dwarfs
• Nebular Spectra of 111 Type Ia Supernovae Disfavor Single Degenerate Progenitors
• ASASSN-18tb: A Most Unusual Type Ia Supernova Observed by TESS and SALT
• Early Observations of the Type Ia Supernova iPTF 16abc: A Case of Interaction with Nearby, Unbound Material and/or Strong Ejecta Mixing
• Nebular Spectroscopy of the `Blue Bump' Type Ia Supernova 2017cbv
• H-$\alpha$ emission in the nebular spectrum of the Type Ia supernova ASASSN-18tb
• Determining the ${}^{56}$Ni distribution of type Ia supernovae from observations within days of explosion
• Nebular Models of Sub-Chandrasekhar Mass Type Ia Supernovae: Clues to the Origin of Ca-rich Transients
• No Stripped Companion Material in the Nebular Spectrum of the "Two-Component" Type Ia Supernova ASASSN-18bt
• The Spectacular Ultraviolet Flash From the Peculiar Type Ia Supernova 2019yvq
• Discovery of the Fastest Early Optical Emission from Overluminous SN Ia 2020hvf: A Thermonuclear Explosion within a Dense Circumstellar Environment
• Strong Calcium Emission Indicates that the Ultraviolet-Flashing Type Ia SN 2019yvq was the Result of a Sub-Chandrasekhar Mass Double-Detonation Explosion
• Imprints of the ejecta-companion interaction in Type Ia supernovae: main sequence, subgiant, and red giant companions
• An investigation of ${}^{56}$Ni shells as the source of early light curve bumps in type Ia supernovae
• Modelling the early time behaviour of type Ia supernovae: effects of the ${}^{56}$Ni distribution
• Variable H$\alpha$ Emission in the Nebular Spectra of the Low-Luminosity Type Ia SN2018cqj/ATLAS18qtd
• Nebular Spectroscopy of Kepler's Brightest Supernova
• The Deepest Radio Observations of Nearby Type IA Supernovae: Constraining Progenitor Types and Optimizing Future Surveys
• Constraining Type Ia supernova explosions and early flux excesses with the Zwicky Transient Factory
• A Bright Ultraviolet Excess in the Transitional 02es-like Type Ia Supernova 2019yvq
• A Speed Bump: SN 2021aefx Shows that Doppler Shift Alone can Explain Early-Excess Blue Flux in Some Type Ia Supernovae
• Infant-phase reddening by surface Fe-peak elements in a normal Type Ia Supernova
• SN2002es-like Supernovae From Different Viewing Angles
• Spectral signatures of H-rich material stripped from a non-degenerate companion by a Type Ia supernova
• SN2019yvq Does Not Conform to SN Ia Explosion Models
• Constraining magnetic field amplification in SN shocks using radio observations of SNe 2011fe and 2014J
• Nebular H$\alpha$ Limits for Fast Declining Type Ia Supernovae
• Heating from free-free absorption and the mass-loss rate of the progenitor stars to supernovae
• Nebular Halpha emission in SN Ia 2016jae
• Strong Near-Infrared Carbon Absorption in the Transitional Type Ia SN 2015bp
• Late-Onset Circumstellar Medium Interactions are Rare: An Unbiased GALEX View of Type Ia Supernovae

Cited by in corpus (3)

• A JWST Near- and Mid-Infrared Nebular Spectrum of the Type Ia Supernova 2021aefx
• The origin and evolution of the normal Type Ia SN 2018aoz with infant-phase reddening and excess emission
• SN 2021fxy: Mid-Ultraviolet Flux Suppression is a Common Feature of Type Ia Supernovae