Host Galaxy Properties and Hubble Residuals of Type Ia Supernovae from the Nearby Supernova Factory

TL;DR

This study investigates how properties of host galaxies, such as mass and metallicity, influence Type Ia Supernova brightness residuals, revealing correlations and potential explanations involving dust and progenitor age.

Contribution

It provides new evidence linking SN Ia residuals to host galaxy metallicity and demonstrates the complex interplay of factors affecting supernova brightness.

Findings

SN Ia residuals correlate with host galaxy properties.

Brightness difference between low and high mass hosts is 0.077 mag.

Residuals show plateaus at certain host mass ranges.

Abstract

We examine the relationship between Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) Hubble residuals and the properties of their host galaxies using a sample of 115 SNe Ia from the Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory). We use host galaxy stellar masses and specific star-formation rates fitted from photometry for all hosts, as well as gas-phase metallicities for a subset of 69 star-forming (non-AGN) hosts, to show that the SN Ia Hubble residuals correlate with each of these host properties. With these data we find new evidence for a correlation between SN Ia intrinsic color and host metallicity. When we combine our data with those of other published SN Ia surveys, we find the difference between mean SN Ia brightnesses in low and high mass hosts is 0.077 +- 0.014 mag. When viewed in narrow (0.2 dex) bins of host stellar mass, the data reveal apparent plateaus of Hubble residuals at high and low host masses with a rapid transition over a short mass range (9.8 <= log(M_*/M_Sun) <= 10.4). Although metallicity has been a favored interpretation for the origin of the Hubble residual trend with host mass, we illustrate how dust in star-forming galaxies and mean SN Ia progenitor age both evolve along the galaxy mass sequence, thereby presenting equally viable explanations for some or all of the observed SN Ia host bias.