We present optical observations and Monte Carlo radiative transfer modeling of the Type Ia supernova SN 2011aa. With a Δm15(B) of 0.59±0.07 mag and a peak magnitude MB of −19.30±0.27 mag, SN 2011aa has the slowest decline rate among SNe Ia. The secondary maximum in the I-band is absent or equally bright as the primary maximum. The velocity of C II is lower than the velocity of Si II. This indicates either presence of C at lower velocities than Si or a line of sight effect. Application of Arnett's radiation diffusion model to the bolometric light curve indicates a massive ejecta Mej1.8−2.6M⊙. The slow decline rate and large ejecta mass, with a normal peak magnitude, are well explained by double degenerate, violent merger explosion model. The synthetic spectra and light curves generated with SEDONA considering a violent merger density profile match the observations.
@article{arxiv.2209.00569,
title = {Can the violent merger of white dwarfs explain the slowest declining Type Ia supernova SN 2011aa?},
author = {Anirban Dutta and G C Anupama and N K Chakradhari and D K Sahu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.00569},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
12 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters