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Post Info TOPIC: Supernova 2005ap
Blobrana


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RE: Supernova 2005ap
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An odd celestial explosion recorded two years ago has been confirmed as the brightest supernova ever identified. It is so bright that scientists are still scrambling to explain it.
The explosion, called SN 2005ap, was discovered on 3 March 2005 by Robert Quimby as part of the Texas Supernova Survey, a project he led at the University of Texas in Austin, US, before moving to Caltech in 2007.
Just how intrinsically bright the explosion was did not become clear until recently, when follow-up observations traced the violent event to a distant galaxy 4.7 billion light years from Earth.

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Blobrana


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Astronomer Robert Quimby has done it again. Found the most luminous supernova ever, that is.
Quimby discovered the current record holder, supernova 2006gy, last year as part of his Texas Supernova Search project. Now he announces that a supernova he discovered earlier in the project is actually twice as luminous. Using follow-up studies to pinpoint its distance, supernova 2005ap peaked at more than 100 billion times the brightness of the Sun. The result has been accepted for publication in the October 20 edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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Blobrana


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Title: SN 2005AP: A MOST BRILLIANT EXPLOSION
Authors: Robert M. Quimby, Greg Aldering, J. Craig Wheeler, Peter Höflich, Carl W. Akerlof, Eli S. Rykoff

We present unfiltered photometric observations with ROTSE-III and optical spectroscopic follow-up with the HET and Keck of the most luminous supernova yet identified, SN 2005ap. The spectra taken about 3 days before and 6 days after maximum light show narrow emission lines (likely originating in the dwarf host) and absorption lines at a redshift of z = 0.2832, which puts the peak unfiltered magnitude at -22.7 ±0.1 absolute. Broad P-Cygni features corresponding to H-alpha, C III, N III, and O III, are further detected with a photospheric velocity of ~ 20,000 kms-1. Unlike other highly luminous supernovae such as 2006gy and 2006tf that show slow photometric evolution, the light curve of SN 2005ap indicates a 1-3 week rise to peak followed by a relatively rapid decay. The spectra also lack the distinct emission peaks from moderately broadened (FWHM~ 2,000 kms-1) Balmer lines seen in SN 2006gy and SN 2006tf. We briefly discuss the origin of the extraordinary luminosity from a strong interaction as may be expected from a pair instability eruption or a GRB-like engine encased in a H/He envelope.

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Sup2005ap
SN 2005ap is located at RA = 13h01m14.s83, Dec = +274332.3 (J2000), which is 6.2 projected from SDSS J130115.12+274327.5

SN 2005ap.kmz
Google Sky file

-- Edited by Blobrana at 16:37, 2008-01-12

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