Publikationsdatum:
2014-05-04
Beschreibung:
We present Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) imaging observations of the site of the Type-Ia supernova SN2011fe in the nearby galaxy M101, obtained about 1 yr prior to the event, in a narrow band centred on the He ii 4686 Å emission line. In a ‘single-degenerate’ progenitor scenario, the hard photon flux from an accreting white dwarf (WD), burning hydrogen on its surface over ~1 Myr should, in principle, create a He iii Strömgren sphere or shell surrounding the WD. Depending on the WD luminosity, the interstellar density, and the velocity of an outflow from the WD, the He iii region could appear unresolved, extended, or as a ring, with a range of possible surface brightnesses. We find no trace of He ii 4686 Å line emission in the HST data. Using simulations, we set 2 upper limits on the He ii 4686 Å luminosity of L He ii 〈 3.4 x 10 34 erg s –1 for a point source, corresponding to an emission region of radius r 〈 1.8 pc. The upper limit for an extended source is L He ii 〈 1.7 x 10 35 erg s –1 , corresponding to an extended region with r ~ 11 pc. The largest detectable shell, given an interstellar-medium density of 1 cm –3 , has a radius of ~6 pc. Our results argue against the presence, within the ~10 5 yr prior to the explosion, of a supersoft X-ray source of luminosity L bol 3 x 10 37 erg s –1 , or of a super-Eddington accreting WD that produces an outflowing wind capable of producing cavities with radii of 2–6 pc.
Print ISSN:
1745-3925
Digitale ISSN:
1745-3933
Thema:
Physik
Permalink