Evaluating the Consistency of Cosmological Distances Using Supernova Siblings in the Near-Infrared

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the consistency of Type Ia supernova distances using near-infrared data from sibling supernovae in the same host galaxy, highlighting the potential for improved standard candles with upcoming space telescope data.

Contribution

First analysis of supernova siblings using only near-infrared data, assessing intrinsic scatter and measurement uncertainties in NIR supernova luminosities.

Findings

Median absolute difference in distance modulus (μ) between siblings is ~0.19 mag.

Simulations suggest an intrinsic scatter in NIR supernova luminosities at 99% confidence.

NIR data quality and sample size limitations affect current consistency measurements.

Abstract

The study of supernova siblings, supernovae with the same host galaxy, is an important avenue for understanding and measuring the properties of Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) light curves (LCs). Thus far, sibling analyses have mainly focused on optical LC data. Considering that LCs in the near-infrared (NIR) are expected to be better standard candles than those in the optical, we carry out the first analysis compiling SN siblings with only NIR data. We perform an extensive literature search of all SN siblings and find six sets of siblings with published NIR photometry. We calibrate each set of siblings ensuring they are on homogeneous photometric systems, fit the LCs with the SALT3-NIR and SNooPy models, and find median absolute differences in $\mu$ values between siblings of 0.248 mag and 0.186 mag, respectively. To evaluate the significance of these differences beyond measurement noise, we run simulations that mimic these LCs and provide an estimate for uncertainty on these median absolute differences of $\sim$0.052 mag, and we find that our analysis supports the existence of intrinsic scatter in the NIR at the 99% level. When comparing the same sets of SN siblings, we observe a median absolute difference in $\mu$ values between siblings of 0.177 mag when using optical data alone as compared to 0.186 mag when using NIR data alone. We attribute this to either limited statistics, poor quality NIR data, or poor reduction of the NIR data; all of which will be improved with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.