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Title:
Supernova 1996cr: SN 1987A's Wild Cousin?
Authors:
Bauer, F. E.; Dwarkadas, V. V.; Brandt, W. N.; Immler, S.; Smartt, S.; Bartel, N.; Bietenholz, M. F.
Affiliation:
AA(Chandra Fellow, Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, 550 W. 120th Street, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027; .), AB(Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, RI 451, Chicago, IL 60637.), AC(Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802.), AD(Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771.), AE(Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Maths and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN Northern Ireland, UK.), AF(Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.), AG(Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.; Hartebeesthoek Radio Observatory, PO Box 443, Krugersdorp, 1740, South Africa.)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 688, Issue 2, pp. 1210-1234. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
12/2008
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Stars: Circumstellar Matter, Stars: Supernovae: General, supernovae: individual (SN 1996cr), X-rays: individual (SN 1996cr)
DOI:
10.1086/589761
Bibliographic Code:
2008ApJ...688.1210B

Abstract

We report on new VLT optical spectroscopic and multiwavelength archival observations of SN 1996cr, a previously identified ultraluminous X-ray source known as Circinus galaxy X-2. Our optical spectrum confirms SN 1996cr as a bona fide Type IIn supernova, while archival imaging from the Anglo-Australian Telescope archive isolates the explosion date to between 1995 February 28 and 1996 March 16. SN 1996cr is one of the closest SNe (~3.8 Mpc) in the last several decades, and in terms of flux ranks among the brightest radio and X-ray SNe ever detected. The wealth of optical, X-ray, and radio observations that exist for this source provide relatively detailed constraints on its postexplosion expansion and progenitor history, including a preliminary angular size constraint from VLBI. Archival X-ray and radio data imply that the progenitor of SN 1996cr evacuated a large cavity just prior to exploding: the blast wave likely spent ~1-2 yr in relatively uninhibited expansion before eventually striking the dense circumstellar material which surrounds SN 1996cr. The X-ray and radio emission, which trace the progenitor mass-loss rate, have respectively risen by a factor of >~2 and remained roughly constant over the past 7 years. This behavior is reminiscent of the late rise of SN 1987A, but 1000 times more luminous and much more rapid to onset. SN 1996cr may likewise provide us with a younger example of SN 1978K and SN 1979C, both of which exhibit flat X-ray evolution at late times. Complex oxygen line emission hints at a possible concentric shell or ringlike structure. The discovery of SN 1996cr suggests that a substantial fraction of the closest SNe observed in the last several decades have occurred in wind-blown bubbles, and argues for the phenomena being widespread.
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