SN 2025adpq: A Type Ia supernova in a collisional ring formed during a major galaxy merger

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a Type Ia supernova in a collisional ring formed during a galaxy merger, suggesting such environments can host displaced old progenitors and influence supernova distribution.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed case of a Type Ia supernova in a collisional ring, highlighting a new environment for progenitor systems and their potential displacement during galaxy mergers.

Findings

SN 2025adpq is located 11.4 kpc from the primary galaxy in a 70 kpc ring.

Spectroscopy indicates ongoing star formation and old stellar populations in the ring.

The supernova likely originated from an old progenitor displaced by the merger.

Abstract

Galaxy mergers can both trigger star formation and rearrange where stars live, producing long-lived tidal structures and collisionally driven density waves (known as collisional rings) that can extend for tens of kpc from their host galaxy centers. Here we report the discovery of SN 2025adpq, a Type Ia supernova at $z=0.1540$, found within a collisional ring, which we call Pika's Halo, with circumference $\sim$70 kpc that was produced by a major merger between two comparable mass galaxies ($\log(M_*/M_\odot)\approx10.5)$. The supernova lies along the ring at a projected offset of $\sim$11.4 kpc from the nucleus of the primary galaxy (hereafter G1). Optical spectroscopy obtained with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and Gemini South reveal signatures consistent with merger induced ongoing star formation, while prominent Calcium H and K absorption indicates a substantial old stellar population within the ring. Given the long delay times expected for most SN Ia progenitors, we argue that SN 2025adpq most likely arose from an old progenitor system that was displaced from G1 during the head-on encounter. The progenitor was likely stripped from its parent galaxy by the collisionally induced pressure wave and exploded far from its birthplace. This event highlights collisional rings as a pathway for producing large offset SNe Ia, and it motivates targeted searches for faint, dynamically displaced old populations in seemingly hostless SN Ia environments. We additionally identify other supernovae, including supernova siblings, in the low redshift sample of collisional ring galaxies, and find that SN 2025adpq is one of only a handful of classified supernova identified in the expanding ring of a collisional ring complex.