2006/10/26 by G. Cresci, F. Mannucci, M. Della Valle +1 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Extinction (optical mineralogy) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Luminosity #Luminous infrared galaxy #Physics #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Supernova #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065364
7 pages, accepted for publication in A&A
arxiv created 2006/10/26 · openalex publication_date 2006/11/29 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The detection of obscured supernovae (SNe) in near-infrared monitoring campaigns of starburst galaxies has shown that a significant fraction of SNe is missed by optical surveys. However, the number of SNe detected in ground-based near-IR observations is still significantly lower than the number of SNe extrapolated from the FIR luminosity of the hosts. A possibility is that most SNe occur within the nuclear regions, where the limited angular resolution of ground-based observations prevents their detection. This issue prompted us to exploit the superior angular resolution of NICMOS-HST to search for obscured SNe within the first kpc from the nucleus of strong starbursting galaxies. A total of 17 galaxies were observed in SNAPSHOT mode. Based on their FIR luminosity, we did not expect to detect fewer than ~ SNe. However, no confirmed SN event was found. From our data we derived an observed nuclear SN rate <0.5 SN/yr per galaxy. The shortage of SN detections can be explained by a combination of several effects. The most important are: i) the existence of a strong extinction, ; ii) most SNe occur within the first (which corresponds in our sample to about 500 pc) where even NICMOS is unable to detect SN events.