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Photometric Identification of Young Stripped-Core Supernovae (2004)

Abstract
We present a method designed to identify the spectral type of young (less than ~30 days after explosion) and nearby (z < ~0.05) supernovae (SNe) using their broad-band colors. In particular, we show that stripped-core SNe (i.e., hydrogen deficient core-collapse events, spectroscopically defined as SNe Ib and SNe Ic, including broad-lined SN 1998bw-like events) can be clearly distinguished from other types of SNe. Using the full census of nearby SNe discovered during the year 2002, we estimate the impact that prompt multi-band photometry, obtained by 1m class telescopes, would have on the early identification of stripped-core events. Combining this new approach with ongoing spectroscopic follow-up programs, one can expect ~20 nearby, stripped-core events to be identified, each year, around, or before, maximum light. Follow-up studies, including prompt, multi-epoch optical spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry, as well as radio and X-ray observations, could greatly increase our understanding of these events, and shed new light on their association with cosmological gamma-ray bursts.. Comment: Slightly revised version following referee's comments; PASP, in press

Publication details
Download http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0403296
Repository arXiv (United States)
Keywords Astrophysics
Type text