2006/09/10 by K. Krisciunas, Kevin Krisciunas, Peter M. Garnavich +19 · 106 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Distance modulus #Extinction (optical mineralogy) #Galaxy #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Light curve #Optics #Photometry (optics) #Physics #Spectral line #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Supernova #Wavelength #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/509126
published in The Astronomical Journal 133(1), 58-72 (Institute of Physics) · 46 pages, 17 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal
arxiv created 2006/09/10 · openalex publication_date 2006/11/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We present optical ( UBVRI ) and near-IR ( YJHK ) photometry of the normal Type Ia supernova (SN) 2004S. We also present eight optical spectra and one near-IR spectrum of SN 2004S. The light curves and spectra are nearly identical to those of SN 2001el. This is the first time we have seen optical and IR light curves of two Type Ia SNe match so closely. Within the one parameter family of light curves for normal Type Ia SNe, that two objects should have such similar light curves implies that they had identical intrinsic colors and produced similar amounts of 56 Ni. From the similarities of the light-curve shapes we obtain a set of extinctions as a function of wavelength that allows a simultaneous solution for the distance modulus difference of the two objects, the difference of the host galaxy extinctions, and R V . Since SN 2001el had roughly an order of magnitude more host galaxy extinction than SN 2004S, the value of R V = 2.15 pertains primarily to dust in the host galaxy of SN 2001el. We have also shown via Monte Carlo simulations that adding rest-frame J -band photometry to the complement of BVRI photometry of Type Ia SNe decreases the uncertainty in the distance modulus by a factor of 2.7. A combination of rest-frame optical and near-IR photometry clearly gives more accurate distances than using rest-frame optical photometry alone.