A super-Chandrasekhar mass type Ia supernova progenitor at 49 pc set to detonate in 23 Gyr

Abstract

Double white dwarf binaries are a leading explanation to the origin of type Ia supernovae, but no system exceeding the Chandrasekhar mass limit (1.4 M${}_{\odot }$) has been found that will explode anywhere close to a Hubble time. Here, we present the super-Chandrasekhar mass double white dwarf WDJ181058.67+311940.94 whose merger time ($22.6\pm 1.0$ Gyr) is of the same order as a Hubble time. The mass of the binary is large, combining to $1.555\pm 0.044$ M${}_{\odot }$, while being located only 49 pc away. We predict that the binary will explode dynamically via a double detonation destroying both stars just before they merge, appearing as a subluminous type Ia supernova with a peak apparent magnitude of about $m_V=-16$ (200,000 times brighter than Jupiter). The observationally-derived birthrate of super-Chandrasekhar mass double white dwarfs is now at least $6.0\times 10^{-4}$ yr${}^{-1}$ and the observed rate of type Ia supernovae in the Milky Way from such systems is approximately $4.4\times 10^{-5}$ yr${}^{-1}$, while the predicted type Ia supernova rate in the Milky Way from all progenitor channels is about sixty times larger. Hence, WDJ181058.67+311940.94 mitigates the observed deficit of massive double white dwarfs witnessed in volume-complete populations, but further evidence is required to determine the majority progenitors of type Ia supernovae.

Published in Nature Astronomy, 4 figures, 2 tables, 1 appendix

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