Physical Properties of the X-ray Luminous SN 1978K in NGC 1313 from Multiwavelength Observations

Abstract

We update the light curves from the X-ray, optical, and radio bandpasses which we have assembled over the past decade, and present two observations in the ultraviolet using the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph. The HRI X-ray light curve is constant within the errors over the entire observation period. This behavior is confirmed in the ASCA GIS data obtained in 1993 and 1995. In the ultraviolet, we detected Ly-alpha, the [Ne IV] 2422/2424 A doublet, the Mg II doublet at 2800 A, and a line at ~3190 A we attribute to He I 3187. Only the Mg II and He I lines are detected at SN1978K's position. The optical light curve is formally constant within the errors, although a slight upward trend may be present. The radio light curve continues its steep decline. The longer time span of our radio observations compared to previous studies shows that SN1978K is in the same class of highly X-ray and radio-luminous supernovae as SN1986J and SN1988Z. The [Ne IV] emission is spatially distant from the location of SN1978K and originates in the pre-shocked matter. The Mg II doublet flux ratio implies the quantity of line optical depth times density of ~10^14 cm^-3 for its emission region. The emission site must lie in the shocked gas.

arXiv comment32 pages, 13 figs; LaTeX with AASTEXv5; paper accepted, scheduled for AJ, Dec 1999

References in corpus (9)

• Radio Emission and Particle Acceleration in SN 1993J
• SN 1988Z: Spectro-photometric catalogue and energy estimates
• Late-Time Optical and UV Spectra of SN 1979C and SN 1980K
• Radio Observations of SN 1980K: Evidence for Rapid Presupernova Evolution
• The circumstellar medium of the peculiar supernova SN1997ab
• Recent X-Ray Observations of SN1986J with ASCA and ROSAT
• Soft X-ray Emission from the Spiral Galaxy NGC 1313
• Detection of Pre-Shock Dense Circumstellar Material of SN 1978K
• On the evolution of ejecta fragments in compact supernova remnants

Cited by in corpus (24)

• The Radio and X-ray Luminous SN 2003bg and the Circumstellar Density Variations Around Radio Supernovae
• X-ray, Optical, and Radio Observations of the Type II Supernovae 1999em and 1998S
• Late-Time Optical Emission From Core-Collapse Supernovae
• Dusty Explosions from Dusty Progenitors: The Physics of SN2008S and the 2008 NGC300-OT
• X-Ray Supernovae
• A Search for Radio Emission from Supernovae With Ages from About One Week to More Than 80 Years
• Late-time X-Ray, UV and Optical Monitoring of Supernova 1979C
• The nature of supernovae 2010O and 2010P in Arp 299 - II. Radio emission
• A systematic reclassification of type IIn supernovae
• Multiple Components of the Luminous Compact X-ray Source at the Edge of Holmberg II observed by ASCA and ROSAT
• Evolving into a remnant: optical observations of SN 1978K at three decades
• Chandra ACIS and Newton EPIC Observations of the X-ray Luminous SN1978K in NGC 1313
• Radio Detection of Supernova 2004ip in the Circumnuclear Region of the Luminous Infrared Galaxy IRAS 18293-3413
• A Radio and X-Ray Study of Historical Supernovae in M83
• Detecting z > 2 Type IIn Supernovae
• A Deep ROSAT HRI Observation of NGC 1313
• Radio Emission from SN 2001gd in NGC 5033
• The Radio Recovery of SN 1970G: The Continuing Radio Evolution of SN 1970G
• A Search for Infrared Emission from Core-Collapse Supernovae at the Transitional Phase
• Chandra and ASCA X-ray Observations of the Radio Supernova SN1979C IN NGC 4321
• First Detection of X-Ray Line Emission from Type IIn Supernova 1978K with XMM-Newton's RGS
• A Silver Anniversary Observation of the X-ray Emitting SN1978K in NGC 1313
• The X-ray Decay of the ultraluminous supernova SN 1978K in NGC 1313
• ALMA, ATCA, and Spitzer Observations of the Luminous Extragalactic Supernova SN 1978K