Still Brighter than Pre-Explosion, SN 2012Z Did Not Disappear: Comparing Hubble Space Telescope Observations a Decade Apart

TL;DR

This study examines late-time Hubble observations of SN 2012Z, revealing it remains brighter than pre-explosion levels, suggesting a possible remnant or circumstellar interaction, challenging simple radioactive decay models.

Contribution

The paper provides the first late-time HST observations of SN 2012Z, testing progenitor models and proposing alternative explanations for its sustained brightness.

Findings

SN 2012Z's brightness remains above pre-explosion levels after 1400 days.

Decay rate suggests contribution from longer-lived radioactive isotopes or other sources.

Evidence supports a bound remnant or circumstellar interaction as sources of late-time luminosity.

Abstract

Type Iax supernovae represent the largest class of peculiar white-dwarf supernovae. The type Iax SN~2012Z in NGC 1309 is the only white dwarf supernova with a detected progenitor system in pre-explosion observations. Deep \textit{Hubble Space Telescope} images taken before SN~2012Z show a luminous, blue source that we have interpreted as a helium-star companion (donor) to the exploding white dwarf. We present here late-time \textit{HST} observations taken $\sim$1400 days after the explosion to test this model. We find the SN light curve can empirically be fit by an exponential decay model in magnitude units. The fitted asymptotic brightness is within $10\%$ of our latest measurements and approximately twice the brightness of the pre-explosion source. The decline of the light curve is too slow to be powered by $^{56}$Co or $^{57}$Co decay: if radioactive decay is the dominate power source, it must be from longer half-life species like $^{55}$Fe. Interaction with circumstellar material may contribute to the light curve, as may shock heating of the companion star. Companion-star models underpredict the observed flux in the optical, producing most of their flux in the UV at these epochs. A radioactively-heated bound remnant, left after only a partial disruption of the white dwarf, is also capable of producing the observed excess late-time flux. Our analysis suggests that the total ejecta + remnant mass is consistent with the Chandrasekhar mass for a range of type Iax supernovae.