SN 2003gd

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SN 2003gd
Sig06-018.jpg
Spitzer Space Telescope image of a dust cloud at the position of the SN 2003gd explosion
Event typeSupernova
Type II-P [1]
Date12 June 2003 [1]
Constellation Pisces
Right ascension 01h 36m 42.65s [2]
Declination +15° 44 20.9 [2]
Epoch J2000.0
Galactic coordinates 138.6379° −45.7477° [1]
Distance30.3 ± 5.9  Mly (9.3 ± 1.8  Mpc) [3]
Host Messier 74 (NGC 628) [1]
Progenitor typeRed supergiant [4]
Peak apparent magnitude 13.2 [1]

SN 2003gd was a Type II-P supernova explosion in the spiral galaxy Messier 74, located in the constellation Pisces. SN 2003gd was discovered on 12 June 2003 by Robert Evans, using a 0.31m reflector, and its discovery was confirmed on 13 June 2003 by R. H. McNaught using the 1.0m telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory. [5]

This supernova was located along the outer edge of a spiral arm, [6] ~7.3  kpc from the galactic nucleus [3] at an angular offset 13.2 east and 161.0″ south of the core. [1] It was discovered at the end of its "plateau phase", approximately 86 days after its estimated explosion date of 18 March 2003. Despite a lower tail luminosity in the light curve, this appears to be a normal Type II-p. [3] A light echo from nearby dust was detected in archival images from 2004. [7]

Messier 74 had been observed approximately 200 days before the explosion with the Hubble Space Telescope, and about 300 days before using the Gemini Telescope. Astronomers were able to identify an object in these pre-supernova images that was in the same position as SN 2003gd, and which is believed to be the supernova's progenitor star. This progenitor star was a red supergiant with a mass of ~8  M , consistent with the expectations of existing single-star stellar evolution models. It is the first progenitor of a normal type II-P supernova to have ever been detected. [8] [9] [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supernova</span> Explosion of a star at its end of life

A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion. The original object, called the progenitor, either collapses to a neutron star or black hole, or is completely destroyed to form a diffuse nebula. The peak optical luminosity of a supernova can be comparable to that of an entire galaxy before fading over several weeks or months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SN 1987A</span> 1987 supernova event in the constellation Dorado

SN 1987A was a type II supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs from Earth and was the closest observed supernova since Kepler's Supernova. 1987A's light reached Earth on February 23, 1987, and as the earliest supernova discovered that year, was labeled "1987A". Its brightness peaked in May, with an apparent magnitude of about 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superluminous supernova</span> Supernova at least ten times more luminous than a standard supernova

A super-luminous supernova is a type of stellar explosion with a luminosity 10 or more times higher than that of standard supernovae. Like supernovae, SLSNe seem to be produced by several mechanisms, which is readily revealed by their light-curves and spectra. There are multiple models for what conditions may produce an SLSN, including core collapse in particularly massive stars, millisecond magnetars, interaction with circumstellar material, or pair-instability supernovae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue supergiant</span> Hot, luminous star with a spectral type of B9 or earlier

A blue supergiant (BSG) is a hot, luminous star, often referred to as an OB supergiant. They have luminosity class I and spectral class B9 or earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whirlpool Galaxy</span> Interacting grand-design spiral galaxy

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a (M51a) or NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. It is between 23 and 31 million light-years away and 76,900 ly (23,580 pc) in diameter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 74</span> Face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces

Messier 74 is a large spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation Pisces. It is about 32 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy contains two clearly defined spiral arms and is therefore used as an archetypal example of a grand design spiral galaxy. The galaxy's low surface brightness makes it the most difficult Messier object for amateur astronomers to observe. Its relatively large angular size and the galaxy's face-on orientation make it an ideal object for professional astronomers who want to study spiral arm structure and spiral density waves. It is estimated that M74 hosts about 100 billion stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6946</span> Galaxy in the constellations Cepheus & Cygnus

NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its distance from Earth is about 25.2 million light-years or 7.72 megaparsecs, similar to the distance of M101 in the constellation Ursa Major. Both were once considered to be part of the Local Group, but are now known to be among the dozen bright spiral galaxies near the Milky Way but beyond the confines of the Local Group. NGC 6946 lies within the Virgo Supercluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SN 2005cs</span> 2005 supernova event in constellation Canes Venatici

SN 2005cs was a supernova in the spiral galaxy M51, known as the Whirlpool Galaxy. It was a type II-P core-collapse supernova, discovered June 28, 2005 by Wolfgang Kloehr, a German amateur astronomer. The event was positioned at an offset of 15″ west and 78″ south of the galactic nucleus of M51. Based on the data, the explosion was inferred to occur 2.8 days before discovery. It was considered under-luminous for a supernova of its type, releasing an estimated 3×1050 erg in energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7793</span> Galaxy in the constellation Sculptor

NGC 7793 is a flocculent spiral galaxy in the southern constellation of Sculptor. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. The galaxy is located at a distance of 12.2 million light years and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 227 km/s. NGC 7793 is one of the five brightest galaxies within the Sculptor Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type Ia supernova</span> Type of supernova in binary systems

A Type Ia supernova is a type of supernova that occurs in binary systems in which one of the stars is a white dwarf. The other star can be anything from a giant star to an even smaller white dwarf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanduleak -69 202</span>

Sanduleak -69 202 was a magnitude 12 blue supergiant star, located on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is notable as the progenitor of supernova 1987A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SN 1993J</span> Supernova in the spiral galaxy Messier 81

SN 1993J is a supernova observed in the galaxy M81. It was discovered on 28 March 1993 by F. Garcia in Spain. At the time, it was the second-brightest type II supernova observed in the twentieth century behind SN 1987A, peaking at a visible apparent magnitude of 10.7 on March 30, with a second peak of 10.86 on April 18.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SN 2008ax</span> 2008 supernova event in constellation Canes Venatici

SN 2008ax was a helium-rich type Ib core-collapse supernova in the interacting galaxy NGC 4490. It was independently discovered on 3 March 2008 by LOSS and 4 March by Koichi Itagaki. The site had been monitored six hours before discovery, thus constraining the time of the explosion breakout. It was the third-brightest supernova of 2008. The brightness in the B-band peaked about 20 days after the explosion. X-ray emissions were detected from the event, which are most likely the result of shock heating from the supernova ejecta and circumstellar material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7424</span> Galaxy in the constellation Grus

NGC 7424 is a barred spiral galaxy located 37.5 million light-years away in the southern constellation Grus. Its size makes it similar to our own galaxy, the Milky Way. It is called a "grand design" galaxy because of its well defined spiral arms. Two supernovae and two ultraluminous X-ray sources have been discovered in NGC 7424.

SN 2011dh was a supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). It was discovered on 31 May 2011, with an apparent magnitude 13.5. and confirmed by several sources, including the Palomar Transient Factory. A candidate progenitor was detected in Hubble Space Telescope images. The progenitor may have been a highly luminous yellow supergiant with an initial mass of 18-24 solar masses. The supernova peaked near apparent magnitude 12.1 on 19 June 2011. Emission spectra indicated that the explosion was a type II supernova, in which a massive star collapses once nuclear fusion has ceased in its core.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SN 2011fe</span>

SN 2011fe, initially designated PTF 11kly, was a Type Ia supernova discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey on 24 August 2011 during an automated review of images of the Messier 101 from the nights of 22 and 23 August 2011. It was located in Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, 21 million light years from Earth. It was observed by the PTF survey very near the beginning of its supernova event, when it was approximately 1 million times too dim to be visible to the naked eye. It is the youngest type Ia ever discovered. About 13 September 2011, it reached its maximum brightness of apparent magnitude +9.9 which equals an absolute magnitude of about -19, equal to 2.5 billion Suns. At +10 apparent magnitude around 5 September, SN 2011fe was visible in small telescopes. As of 30 September the supernova was at +11 apparent magnitude in the early evening sky after sunset above the northwest horizon. It had dropped to +13.7 as of 26 November 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5806</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 5806 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered on February 24, 1786, by the astronomer John Herschel. It is located about 70 million light-years away from the Milky Way. It is a member of the NGC 5846 Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 613</span> Galaxy in the constellation of Sculptor

NGC 613 is a barred spiral galaxy located 67 million light years away in the southern constellation of Sculptor. This galaxy was discovered in 1798 by German-English astronomer William Herschel, then re-discovered and catalogued by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. It was first photographed in 1912, which revealed the spiral form of the nebula. During the twentieth century, radio telescope observations showed that a linear feature in the nucleus was a relatively strong source of radio emission.

SN 2013ej is a Type II-P supernova in the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 74. It was discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search on July 25, 2013, with the 0.76 m Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope, with pre-discovery images having been taken the day before.

References

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  2. 1 2 McNaught, R. H. (June 2003). Green, D. W. E. (ed.). "Supernova 2003gd in M74". IAU Circular. 8152 (8152): 3. Bibcode:2003IAUC.8152....3M.
  3. 1 2 3 Hendry, M. A.; et al. (May 2005). "A study of the Type II-P supernova 2003gd in M74". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 359 (3): 906–926. arXiv: astro-ph/0501341 . Bibcode:2005MNRAS.359..906H. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.08928.x. S2CID   119479585.
  4. 1 2 Maund, Justyn R.; Smartt, Stephen J. (April 2009). "The Disappearance of the Progenitors of Supernovae 1993J and 2003gd". Science. 324 (5926): 486–488. arXiv: 0903.3772 . Bibcode:2009Sci...324..486M. doi:10.1126/science.1170198. PMID   19299586. S2CID   104083.
  5. Evans, R.; McNaught, R. H. (June 2003). Green, D. W. E. (ed.). "Supernova 2003gd in M74". IAU Circular. 8150 (8150): 2. Bibcode:2003IAUC.8150....2E.
  6. Michałowski, Michał J.; et al. (June 2020). "Connection of supernovae 2002ap, 2003gd, 2013ej, and 2019krl in M 74 with atomic gas accretion and spiral structure". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 638: 7. arXiv: 2004.11391 . Bibcode:2020A&A...638A..47M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202037692. S2CID   216144605. A47.
  7. Sugerman, Ben E. K. (October 2005). "Discovery of a Light Echo from SN 2003gd". The Astrophysical Journal. 632 (1): L17–L20. arXiv: astro-ph/0509009 . Bibcode:2005ApJ...632L..17S. doi:10.1086/497578. S2CID   11853657.
  8. "First Detection of a Progenitor Star from a Normal Type II-P Supernova". Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  9. Smartt, Stephen J.; et al. (2004). "Detection of a Red Supergiant Progenitor Star of a Type II-Plateau Supernova". Science. 303 (5657): 499–503. arXiv: astro-ph/0401235 . Bibcode:2004Sci...303..499S. doi:10.1126/science.1092967. PMID   14739452. S2CID   29617248.