The Extreme Hosts of Extreme Supernovae

TL;DR

This study investigates the host galaxies of luminous supernovae, revealing they are typically low-mass, high specific star formation rate galaxies in low-density regions, which may influence supernova progenitor properties.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the host galaxy environments of luminous supernovae using UV and optical data, highlighting their preference for low-mass, high sSFR hosts and implications for progenitor theories.

Findings

LSNe hosts are in low-density, blue edge regions of the galaxy CMD.

LSNe hosts have low stellar mass and high specific star formation rates.

Progenitors are massive stars in low-metallicity, low-mass environments.

Abstract

We use GALEX ultraviolet (UV) and optical integrated photometry of the hosts of seventeen luminous supernovae (LSNe, having peak M_V < -21) and compare them to a sample of 26,000 galaxies from a cross-match between the SDSS DR4 spectral catalog and GALEX interim release 1.1. We place the LSNe hosts on the galaxy NUV-r versus M_r color magnitude diagram (CMD) with the larger sample to illustrate how extreme they are. The LSN hosts appear to favor low-density regions of the galaxy CMD falling on the blue edge of the blue cloud toward the low luminosity end. From the UV-optical photometry, we estimate the star formation history of the LSN hosts. The hosts have moderately low star formation rates (SFRs) and low stellar masses (M_*) resulting in high specific star formation rates (sSFR). Compared with the larger sample, the LSN hosts occupy low-density regions of a diagram plotting sSFR versus M_* in the area having higher sSFR and lower M_*. This preference for low M_*, high sSFR hosts implies the LSNe are produced by an effect having to do with their local environment. The correlation of mass with metallicity suggests that perhaps wind-driven mass loss is the factor that prevents LSNe from arising in higher-mass, higher-metallicity hosts. The massive progenitors of the LSNe (>100 M_sun), by appearing in low-SFR hosts, are potential tests for theories of the initial mass function that limit the maximum mass of a star based on the SFR.