2001/05/15 by D. Andrew Howell · 180 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Population #Stars #Stellar evolution #Stellar population #Supernova #White dwarf #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/321702
published in The Astrophysical Journal 554(2), L193-L196 (IOP Publishing) · 7 pages, 1 figure, Accepted to ApJ Letters
arxiv created 2001/05/15 · openalex publication_date 2001/06/20 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We find that spectroscopically peculiar subluminous Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) come from an old population. Of the 16 subluminous SNe Ia known, 10 are found in E/S0 galaxies, and the remainder are found in early-type spiral galaxies. The probability that this is a chance occurrence is only 0.2%. The finding that subluminous SNe Ia are associated with an older stellar population indicates that for a sufficiently large look-back time (already accessible in current high-redshift searches) they will not be found. Due to a scarcity in old populations, hydrogen and helium main-sequence stars and He red giant stars that undergo Roche lobe overflow are unlikely to be the progenitors of subluminous SNe Ia. Earlier findings that overluminous SNe Ia [Δ m 15 ( B ) ≲ 0.95] come from a young progenitor population are confirmed. The fact that subluminous SNe Ia and overluminous SNe Ia come from different progenitor populations and also have different properties is a prediction of the CO white dwarf merger progenitor scenario.