Sodium Absorption Systems toward SN Ia 2014J Originate on Interstellar Scales

TL;DR

High-resolution spectra of SN 2014J reveal that Na I D absorption systems originate from interstellar material on large scales (~40 pc), not from circumstellar material, based on late-time observations showing no variability.

Contribution

This study uses late-time high-resolution spectra to distinguish interstellar from circumstellar Na I D absorption in SN 2014J, clarifying the origin of these systems.

Findings

Na I D systems are from foreground interstellar material.

Absence of variability indicates no circumstellar material.

Absorbing systems extend to at least 40 parsecs.

Abstract

Na I D absorbing systems toward Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have been intensively studied over the last decade with the aim of finding circumstellar material (CSM), which is an indirect probe of the progenitor system. However, it is difficult to deconvolve CSM components from non-variable, and often dominant, components created by interstellar material (ISM). We present a series of high-resolution spectra of SN Ia 2014J from before maximum brightness to ~250 days after maximum brightness. The late-time spectrum provides unique information for determining the origin of the Na I D absorption systems. The deep late-time observation allows us to probe the environment around the SN at a large scale, extending to ~40 pc. We find that a spectrum of diffuse light in the vicinity, but not directly in the line-of-sight, of the SN has absorbing systems nearly identical to those obtained for the "pure" SN line-of-sight. Therefore, basically all Na I D systems seen toward SN 2014J must originate from foreground material that extends to at least ~40 pc in projection and none at the CSM scale. A fluctuation in the column densities at a scale of ~20 pc is also identified. After subtracting the diffuse, "background" spectrum, the late-time SN Na I D profile along the SN line-of-sight is consistent with the profile in the near-maximum brightness spectra. The lack of variability on a ~1 year timescale is consistent with the ISM interpretation for the gas.