An extremely luminous X-ray outburst at the birth of a supernova

A. M. Soderberg (), E. Berger, K. L. Page, P. Schady, J. Parrent, D. Pooley, X.-Y. Wang, E. O. Ofek, A. Cucchiara, A. Rau, E. Waxman, J. D. Simon, D. C.-J. Bock, P. A. Milne, M. J. Page, J. C. Barentine, S. D. Barthelmy, A. P. Beardmore, M. F. Bietenholz, P. Brown, A. Burrows, D. N. Burrows, G. Byrngelson, S. B. Cenko, P. Chandra, J. R. Cummings, D. B. Fox, A. Gal-Yam, N. Gehrels, S. Immler, M. Kasliwal, A. K. H. Kong, H. A. Krimm, S. R. Kulkarni, T. J. Maccarone, P. Mészáros, E. Nakar, P. T. O’Brien, R. A. Overzier, M. de Pasquale, J. Racusin, N. Rea and D. G. York
Additional contact information
A. M. Soderberg: Princeton University, Ivy Lane, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
E. Berger: Princeton University, Ivy Lane, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
K. L. Page: University of Leicester
P. Schady: Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
J. Parrent: Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA
D. Pooley: University of Wisconsin, 475 North Charter Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
X.-Y. Wang: Nanjing University
E. O. Ofek: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
A. Cucchiara: Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
A. Rau: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
E. Waxman: Faculty of Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science
J. D. Simon: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
D. C.-J. Bock: Radio Astronomy Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
P. A. Milne: Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
M. J. Page: Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
J. C. Barentine: University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
S. D. Barthelmy: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
A. P. Beardmore: University of Leicester
M. F. Bietenholz: York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
P. Brown: Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
A. Burrows: Princeton University, Ivy Lane, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
D. N. Burrows: Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
G. Byrngelson: Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, USA
S. B. Cenko: Space Radiation Laboratory, 220-47, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
P. Chandra: University of Virginia, PO Box 400325, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
J. R. Cummings: CRESST and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
D. B. Fox: Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
A. Gal-Yam: Faculty of Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science
N. Gehrels: CRESST and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
S. Immler: CRESST and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
M. Kasliwal: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
A. K. H. Kong: National Tsing Hua University
H. A. Krimm: CRESST and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
S. R. Kulkarni: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
T. J. Maccarone: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton
P. Mészáros: Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
E. Nakar: Theoretical Astrophysics, 130-33, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
P. T. O’Brien: University of Leicester
R. A. Overzier: Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik
M. de Pasquale: Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
J. Racusin: Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
N. Rea: University of Amsterdam, Astronomical Institute ‘Anton Pannekoek’, Kruislaan 403, 1098SJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
D. G. York: University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA

Nature, 2008, vol. 453, issue 7194, 469-474

Abstract: Abstract Massive stars end their short lives in spectacular explosions—supernovae—that synthesize new elements and drive galaxy evolution. Historically, supernovae were discovered mainly through their ‘delayed’ optical light (some days after the burst of neutrinos that marks the actual event), preventing observations in the first moments following the explosion. As a result, the progenitors of some supernovae and the events leading up to their violent demise remain intensely debated. Here we report the serendipitous discovery of a supernova at the time of the explosion, marked by an extremely luminous X-ray outburst. We attribute the outburst to the ‘break-out’ of the supernova shock wave from the progenitor star, and show that the inferred rate of such events agrees with that of all core-collapse supernovae. We predict that future wide-field X-ray surveys will catch each year hundreds of supernovae in the act of exploding.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature06997

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