Related papers: Bi-polar Supernova Explosions

We briefly review the existing database of supernova spectropolarimetry, concentrating on recent data and on results from our group's research. Spectropolarimetry provides the only direct known probe of early-time supernova geometry. To…

An important and perhaps critical clue to the mechanism driving the explosion of massive stars as supernovae is provided by the accumulating evidence for asymmetry in the explosion. Indirect evidence comes from high pulsar velocities,…

Study of the polarization of supernovae has suggested that the core collapse process may be intrinsically strongly asymmetric. There is a tentative trend for supernova with smaller envelopes showing more polarization, with Type Ic having…

Massive stars die an explosive death as a core-collapse supernova (CCSN). The exact physical processes that cause the collapsing star to rebound into an explosion are not well-understood, and the key in resolving this issue may lie in the…

I present an overview of optical observations (mostly spectra) of Type II, Ib, and Ic supernovae (SNe). SNe II are defined by the presence of hydrogen, and exhibit a very wide variety of properties. SNe II-L tend to show evidence of…

We present six epochs of spectropolarimetric observations and one epoch of spectroscopy of the Type Ib SN iPTF 13bvn. The epochs of these observations correspond to $-$10 to $+$61 days with respect to the {\it r}-band light curve maximum.…

We present spectropolarimetry of the Type Ic supernova SN 2002ap and give a preliminary analysis: the data were taken at two epochs, close to and one month later than the visual maximum (2002 February 8). In addition we present June 9…

The explosion processes of supernovae (SNe) are imprinted in their explosion geometries. Here, we study the intrinsic polarization of 15 hydrogen-rich core-collapse SNe and explore the relation with the photometric and spectroscopic…

We present single-epoch spectropolarimetry of the Type II supernovae (SNe II) 1997ds, 1998A, and 1999gi. SN 1997ds and SN 1998A were both observed during the early photospheric phase, while spectropolarimetry of SN 1999gi was obtained near…

Type II-plateau supernovae (SNe IIP) are the results of the explosions of red supergiants and are the most common subclass of core-collapse supernovae. Past observations have shown that the outer layers of the ejecta of SNe IIP are largely…

I use photometry and spectroscopy data for 24 Type II plateau supernovae to examine their observed and physical properties. This dataset shows that these objects encompass a wide range of ~5 mag in their plateau luminosities, their…

We present an optical spectropolarimetric observation of the unique Type Ib supernova (SN) 2005bf at 8 days after the second maximum. The data, combined with the polarization spectrum taken at 6 days before the second maximum (Maund et al.…

High-cadence surveys of the sky are revealing that a large fraction of red-supergiant (RSG) stars, which are progenitors of Type II-Plateau (II-P) supernovae (SNe), explode within circumstellar material (CSM). Such SNe II-P/CSM exhibit…

We present six epochs of optical spectropolarimetric observations of the unique and slow-evolving Type Ib supernova (SN) 2012au, between 0 and 295 days post R-band maximum. The polarization levels seen throughout our observations are on…

We have made polarimetric observations of three Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) and two type II supernovae (SN II). No significant polarization was detected for any of the SN Ia down to the level of 0.2\%, while polarization of order $1.0\%$ was…

We propose a bipolar jet model for supernova polarization. Light from the main component of the supernova (which we call the bulk supernova for short) scatters off electrons in the jets and is polarized: this polarized light is added to the…

Overwhelming evidence has accumulated in recent years that supernova explosions are intrinsically 3-dimensional phenomena with significant departures from spherical symmetry. We review the evidence derived from spectropolarimetry that has…

We study the multi-dimensional geometry of supernova (SN) explosions by means of spectropolarimetric observations of stripped-envelope SNe, i.e., SNe without a H-rich layer. We perform spectropolarimetric observations of 2 stripped-envelope…

Linear polarization of the optical continuum of type II supernovae (SNe), together with its temporal evolution, is a promising source of information on the large-scale geometry of their ejecta. To help tap this information we have…

We present multi-epoch spectropolarimetry and spectra for a sample of 14 Type IIn supernovae (SNe IIn). We find that after correcting for likely interstellar polarization, SNe IIn commonly show intrinsic continuum polarization of 1--3% at…