The Hubble constant from two sibling Type Ia supernovae in the nearby galaxy NGC 4414: SN 1974G and SN 2021J

TL;DR

This study uses two sibling Type Ia supernovae in NGC 4414 to refine the measurement of the Hubble constant, achieving improved precision and addressing systematic uncertainties in cosmic expansion rate estimates.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach of calibrating the Hubble constant using sibling SNe Ia in the same galaxy, reducing systematic errors in the measurement.

Findings

Hubble constant estimated as 72.19 ± 2.32 (stat.) ± 3.42 (syst.) km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$

Optical and UV photometry of SN 2021J obtained and analyzed

Hierarchical Bayesian approach used for Hubble diagram construction

Abstract

Having two "sibling" Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the same galaxy offers additional advantages in reducing a variety of systematic errors involved in estimating the Hubble constant, $H_{0}$. NGC 4414 is a nearby galaxy included in the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project to measure its distance using Cepheid variables. It hosts two sibling SNe Ia: SN 2021J and SN 1974G. This provides the opportunity to improve the precision of the previous estimate of $H_{0}$, which was based solely on SN 1974G. Here we present new optical $BVRI$ photometry obtained at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada and complement it with Swift UVOT $UBV$ data, which cover the first 70 days of emission of SN 2021J. A first look at SN 2021J optical spectra obtained with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) reveals typical SN type Ia features. The main SN luminosity parameters for the two sibling SNe are obtained by using SNooPy, a light curve fitting code based on templates. Using a hierarchical bayesian approach, we build the Hubble diagram with a sample of 96 SNe Ia obtained from the Combined Pantheon Sample in the redshift range $z = 0.02-0.075$, and calibrate the zero point with the two sibling type-Ia SNe in NGC 4414. We report a value of the Hubble constant $H_{0}$ $= 72.19 \pm 2.32$ (stat.) $\pm 3.42$ (syst.) km s$^{-1}$Mpc$^{-1}$. We expect a reduction of the systematic error after a new analysis of the Cepheids period-luminosity relation using the upcoming Gaia DR4 and additional Cepheids from the HST and JWST.