Related papers: Probing the Geometry of Supernovae with Spectropol…

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…

We present optical spectropolarimetry obtained at the Keck-II 10-m telescope on 1998 March 7 UT along with total flux spectra spanning the first 494 days after discovery (1998 March 2 UT) of the peculiar type IIn supernova (SN) 1998S. The…

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,…

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…

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…

Even at extragalactic distances, the shape of supernova ejecta can be effectively diagnosed by spectropolarimetry. We present here results for 17 Type Ia supernovae that allow a statistical study of the correlation among the geometric…

We present polarization spectra near maximum light for the strongly subluminous Type Ia supernova 1999by that show that the supernova is intrinsically polarized. SN 1999by has an observed, overall level of polarization of ~0.3 to 0.8%, a…

We briefly review the young field of spectropolarimetry of core-collapse supernovae (SNe). Spectropolarimetry provides the only direct known probe of early-time supernova (SN) geometry. The fundamental result is that asphericity is a…

We discuss the optical spectropolarimetry of several core-collapse supernovae, SN 1996cb (Type IIB), SN 1997X (Type Ic), and SN 1998S (Type IIn). The data show polarization evolution of several spectral features at levels from 0.5% to above…

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 the first multi-epoch spectropolarimetry of a type II plateau supernova (SN II-P), with optical observations of SN 1999em on days 7, 40, 49, 159, and 163 after discovery. These data are used to probe the geometry of the…

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…

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…

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…

We present broad-band and spectropolarimetry of the Type Ia SN 1996X obtained on April 14, 1996 (UT), and broad-band polarimetry of SN 1996X on May 22,1996, when the supernova was about a week before and 4 weeks after optical maximum,…

We present Keck spectropolarimetry of the unusual type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2005hk several days before maximum light. An analysis of the high signal-to-noise-ratio total-flux spectrum shows the object's extreme similarity to the peculiar SN…

We present single-epoch, post-maximum spectropolarimetry of four Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) that span a range of spectral and photometric properties: SN 2002bf and SN 2004dt exhibit unusually high-velocity (HV) absorption lines. SN 1997dt…

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 early-time optical spectrum of the Type Ic supernova (SN) 2002ap was characterized by unusually broad features, leading some authors to designate it a "hypernova." We present optical spectropolarimetry of this object 16 and 37 days…

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…