SN 2020acat: an energetic fast rising Type IIb supernova. Issue 4 (5th May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Medler, K; Mazzali, P A; Teffs, J; Ashall, C; Anderson, J P; Arcavi, I; Benetti, S; Bostroem, K A; Burke, J; Cai, Y-Z; Charalampopoulos, P; Elias-Rosa, N; Ergon, M; Galbany, L; Gromadzki, M; Hiramatsu, D; Howell, D A; Inserra, C; Lundqvist, P; McCully, C; Müller-Bravo, T; Newsome, M; Nicholl, M; Padilla Gonzalez, E; Paraskeva, E; Pastorello, A; Pellegrino, C; Pessi, P J; Reguitti, A; Reynolds, T M; Roy, R; Terreran, G; Tomasella, L; Young, D R;
• Is Part Of: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Volume 513:Issue 4(2022)
• Page Start: 5540
• Page End: 5558
• Publication Date: 2022-05-05
• Subjects: supernovae: general -- supernovae: individual: SN 2020acat; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac1192
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0035-8711

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NIR) photometric and optical spectroscopic observations of SN 2020acat covering ∼250 d after explosion are presented here. Using the fast rising photometric observations, spanning from the UV to NIR wavelengths, a pseudo-bolometric light curve was constructed and compared to several other well-observed Type IIb supernovae (SNe IIb). SN 2020acat displayed a very short rise time reaching a peak luminosity of $\mathrm{{\rm Log}_{10}}(L) = 42.49 \pm 0.17 \, \mathrm{erg \, s^{-1}}$ in only ∼14.6 ± 0.3 d. From modelling of the pseudo-bolometric light curve, we estimated a total mass of 56 Ni synthesized by SN 2020acat of M Ni = 0.13 ± 0.03 M⊙, with an ejecta mass of M ej = 2.3 ± 0.4 M⊙ and a kinetic energy of E k = 1.2 ± 0.3 × 10 51 erg. The optical spectra of SN 2020acat display hydrogen signatures well into the transitional period (≳ 100 d), between the photospheric and the nebular phases. The spectra also display a strong feature around 4900 Å that cannot be solely accounted for by the presence of the Fe ii 5018 line. We suggest that the Fe ii feature was augmented by He i 5016 and possibly by the presence of N ii 5005. From both photometric and spectroscopic analysis, we inferred that the progenitor of SN 2020acat was an intermediate-mass compact star with an M ZAMS of 15–20 M⊙ .