2008/04/14 by Arlin Crotts, David Yourdon
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/592318
17 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letters
arxiv created 2008/04/14 · openalex publication_date 2008/11/26 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
We report on the discovery of the geometry producing the light echo emanating from supernova 2006X, a nearby but underluminous Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in M100 (=NGC 4321). This offers a rare chance to study the environment of a SN Ia. Contrary to previous reports, there is little evidence of a circumstellar component in the light echo morphology or in the light curve of the unresolved SN point source. Instead, the obvious and dominant echo contribution comes from what is probably a relatively thin sheet of material some 26 pc in front of SN 2006X. Of the four known SN Ia light echoes, three show no evidence of a circumstellar echo and the fourth needs to be confirmed. We consider other evidence for circumstellar material around SN Ia, which may be rare.