Determining the Type, Redshift, and Phase of a Supernova Spectrum
Abstract
We present an algorithm to identify the types of supernova spectra, and determine their redshift and phase. This algorithm, based on the correlation techniques of Tonry & Davis, is implemented in the SuperNova IDentification code (SNID). It is used by members of the ESSENCE project to determine whether a noisy spectrum of a high-redshift supernova is indeed of type Ia, as opposed to, e.g., type Ib/c. Furthermore, by comparing the correlation redshifts obtained using SNID with those determined from narrow lines in the supernova host galaxy spectrum, we show that accurate redshifts (with a typical error < 0.01) can be determined for SNe Ia for which a spectrum of the host galaxy is unavailable. Last, the phase of an input spectrum is determined with a typical accuracy of ~3 days.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0612512,
title = {Determining the Type, Redshift, and Phase of a Supernova Spectrum},
author = {Stéphane Blondin and John L. Tonry},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0612512},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
10 pages, 7 figures. To appear in "The Multicoloured Landscape of Compact Objects and their Explosive Progenitors: Theory vs Observations" (Cefalu, Sicily, June 2006). Eds. L. Burderi et al. (New York: AIP)