SN 2017hpa: A carbon-rich type Ia supernova

TL;DR

SN 2017hpa is a normal Type Ia supernova with unique carbon-rich features, high velocity Si II absorption, and a significant amount of unburned carbon, providing insights into explosion mechanisms and composition.

Contribution

This study provides detailed photometric and spectroscopic analysis of SN 2017hpa, revealing its carbon-rich nature and high velocity features, which are novel for this supernova type.

Findings

SN 2017hpa is a normal Type Ia supernova with $ ext{Δ}m_{B}(15)=0.98$ mag.

Presence of prominent C II 6580 Å absorption in pre-maximum spectra.

Estimated unburned carbon mass in ejecta is ~0.019 M$_\

Abstract

We present the optical (UBVRI) and ultraviolet (Swift-UVOT) photometry, and optical spectroscopy of Type Ia supernova SN 2017hpa. We study broadband UV+optical light curves and low resolution spectroscopy spanning from $-13.8$ to $+108$~d from the maximum light in $B$-band. The photometric analysis indicates that SN 2017hpa is a normal type Ia with $\Delta m_{B}(15) = 0.98\pm0.16$ mag and $M_{B}=-19.45\pm0.15$ mag at a distance modulus of $\mu = 34.08\pm0.09$ mag. The $(uvw1-uvv)$ colour evolution shows that SN 2017hpa falls in the NUV-blue group. The $(B-V)$ colour at maximum is bluer in comparison to normal type Ia supernovae. Spectroscopic analysis shows that the Si II 6355 absorption feature evolves rapidly with a velocity gradient, $\dot{v}=128\pm 7$ km s$^{-1}$ d$^{-1}$. The pre-maximum phase spectra show prominent C II 6580 {\AA} absorption feature. The C II 6580 {\AA} line velocity measured from the observed spectra is lower than the velocity of Si II 6355 {\AA}, which could be due to a line of sight effect. The synthetic spectral fits to the pre-maximum spectra using syn++ indicate the presence of a high velocity component in the Si II absorption, in addition to a photospheric component. Fitting the observed spectrum with the spectral synthesis code TARDIS, the mass of unburned C in the ejecta is estimated to be $\sim 0.019$~$M_{\odot}$. The peak bolometric luminosity is $L^{bol}_{peak} = 1.43\times10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$. The radiation diffusion model fit to the bolometric light curve indicates $0.61\pm0.02$ $M_\odot$ of $^{56}$Ni is synthesized in the explosion.