Leloudas, G., Patat, F., Maund, J.R. orcid.org/0000-0003-0733-7215 et al. (10 more authors) (2015) Polarimetry of the superluminous supernova LSQ14mo: No evidence for significant deviations from spherical symmetry. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 815 (1). L10. ISSN 2041-8205
Abstract
We present the first polarimetric observations of a Type I superluminous supernova (SLSN). LSQ14mo was observed with VLT/FORS2 at five different epochs in the V band, with the observations starting before maximum light and spanning 26 days in the rest frame (z = 0.256). During this period, we do not detect any statistically significant evolution ($\lt 2\sigma $) in the Stokes parameters. The average values we obtain, corrected for interstellar polarization in the Galaxy, are Q = −0.01% (±0.15%) and U = −0.50% (±0.14%). This low polarization can be entirely due to interstellar polarization in the SN host galaxy. We conclude that, at least during the period of observations and at the optical depths probed, the photosphere of LSQ14mo does not present significant asymmetries, unlike most lower-luminosity hydrogen-poor SNe Ib/c. Alternatively, it is possible that we may have observed LSQ14mo from a special viewing angle. Supporting spectroscopy and photometry confirm that LSQ14mo is a typical SLSN I. Further studies of the polarization of Type I SLSNe are required to determine whether the low levels of polarization are a characteristic of the entire class and to also study the implications for the proposed explosion models.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 The American Astronomical Society. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | supernovae: general; supernovae: individual (LSQ14mo) |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ROYAL SOCIETY UF100736 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 07 Feb 2020 11:42 |
Last Modified: | 18 Mar 2020 15:45 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Astronomical Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1088/2041-8205/815/1/L10 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:156691 |