Supernova 2007bi as a pair-instability explosion

A. Gal-Yam (), P. Mazzali, E. O. Ofek, P. E. Nugent, S. R. Kulkarni, M. M. Kasliwal, R. M. Quimby, A. V. Filippenko, S. B. Cenko, R. Chornock, R. Waldman, D. Kasen, M. Sullivan, E. C. Beshore, A. J. Drake, R. C. Thomas, J. S. Bloom, D. Poznanski, A. A. Miller, R. J. Foley, J. M. Silverman, I. Arcavi, R. S. Ellis and J. Deng
Additional contact information
A. Gal-Yam: Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics, Faculty of Physics, The Weizmann Institute of Science
P. Mazzali: Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
E. O. Ofek: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
P. E. Nugent: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
S. R. Kulkarni: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
M. M. Kasliwal: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
R. M. Quimby: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
A. V. Filippenko: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
S. B. Cenko: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
R. Chornock: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
R. Waldman: The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University
D. Kasen: University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
M. Sullivan: University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
E. C. Beshore: Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, 1629 East University Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
A. J. Drake: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
R. C. Thomas: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
J. S. Bloom: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
D. Poznanski: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
A. A. Miller: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
R. J. Foley: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
J. M. Silverman: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3411, USA
I. Arcavi: Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics, Faculty of Physics, The Weizmann Institute of Science
R. S. Ellis: 105-24, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
J. Deng: National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature, 2009, vol. 462, issue 7273, 624-627

Abstract: A massive star's exit Stars like the Sun end their stellar lives as white dwarfs. Theory predicts a different fate for stars with masses over 140 times that of the Sun (if they exist, which they don't in the Milky Way). When they have evolved to the stage of having oxygen cores the pressure-supporting photons turn into electron–positron pairs, absorbing energy and letting the core collapse to produce a 'pair instability' supernova. Analysis of the spectrum and light curve of supernova 2007bi, a luminous event in a nearby dwarf galaxy, provides evidence of such an explosion. The SN 2007bi progenitor is estimated to have had a core of greater than 100 solar masses. Calculations point to an explosion producing more than three solar masses worth of radioactive nickel-56, in line with what would be expected from a massive oxygen core. The implication is that there are extremely massive stars in the local Universe that could provide astronomers with a close-up of the type of star that may have dominated the early Universe.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08579

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