Related papers: Peculiar Supernovae
The discovery of many objects with unprecedented, amazing observational characteristics caused the last decade to be the most prolific period for the supernova research. Many of these new supernovae are transitional objects between existing…
I review the unwrapping story the SN 1987A explosion event, and the main discoveries associated with it. I will show that, although this supernova is somewhat peculiar, the study of SN 1987A has clarified quite a number of important aspects…
The majority of thermonuclear explosions in the Universe seem to proceed in a rather standardised way, as explosions of carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarfs in binary systems, leading to 'normal' Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). However, over the…
Recent observations have extended the range of diversity among spectra of Type Ia supernovae. I briefly discuss SN Ia explosion models in the spectroscopic context, the observed diversity, and some recent results from direct analysis with…
The spectrum of a supernova is a summation of numerous overlapping atomic line signatures. Consequently, empirical measurements are limited in application when compound features are assumed to be due to one or two spectral lines. Here I…
A parameterized supernova synthetic-spectrum code is used to study line identifications in the photospheric-phase spectra of the peculiar Type Ia SN 1991T, and to extract some constraints on the composition structure of the ejected matter.…
At the 450 yr anniversary of its observation,the supernova named after Tycho Brahe, SN 1572, can be explained in the terms used nowadays to characterize Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). By assembling the records of the observations made in…
This chapter describes the current classification scheme of supernovae (SNe). This scheme has evolved over many decades and now includes numerous SN Types and sub-types. Many of these are universally recognized, while there are…
Two recently discovered very luminous supernovae (SNe) present stimulating cases to explore the extents of the available theoretical models. SN 2011kl represents the first detection of a supernova explosion associated with an ultra-long…
The properties of supernovae (SNe) are reviewed. It is shown that the observed characteristics of the morphological classes of SNe (types Ia, Ib/c, II) can be explained in terms of two basic explosion mechanisms, i.e. core collapse of…
A number of supernovae, classified as Type II, show remarkably peculiar properties such as an extremely low expansion velocity and an extraordinarily small amount of $^{56}$Ni in the ejecta. We present a joint analysis of the available…
Superluminous supernovae are a new class of supernovae that were recognized about a decade ago. Both observational and theoretical progress has been significant in the last decade. In this review, we first briefly summarize the…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have been used empirically as standardized candles to reveal the accelerating universe even though fundamental details, such as the nature of the progenitor system and how the star explodes, remained a mystery.…
Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) are generally believed to be the result of the thermonuclear disruption of Chandrasekhar-mass carbon-oxygen white dwarfs, mainly because such thermonuclear explosions can account for the right amount of nickel,…
Recently, a few peculiar Type Ia supernovae (SNe) that show exceptionally large peak luminosity have been discovered. Their luminosity requires more than 1 Msun of 56Ni ejected during the explosion, suggesting that they might have…
Analysis of the polarization of light from supernovae can reveal the shape and distribution of matter ejected from exploding stars. Here we review the young field of Type Ia supernova spectropolarimetry and critically evaluate, and place in…
Type Ia supernovae are generally agreed to arise from thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs. The actual path to explosion, however, remains elusive, with numerous plausible parent systems and explosion mechanisms suggested.…
The explosive death of a star as a supernova is one of the most dramatic events in the Universe. Supernovae have an outsized impact on many areas of astrophysics: they are major contributors to the chemical enrichment of the cosmos and…
Over a decade ago, a group of supernova explosions with peak luminosities far exceeding (often by >100) those of normal events, has been identified. These superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) have been a focus of intensive study. I review the…
I review our current understanding of superluminous supernovae, mysterious events 100 times brighter than conventional stellar explosions.