Spectropolarimetry of Supernovae
Nov, 200885 pages
Published in:
- Ann.Rev.Astron.Astrophys. 46 (2008) 433-474
e-Print:
- 0811.1054 [astro-ph]
View in:
Citations per year
Abstract: (arXiv)
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 established several key results: virtually all supernovae are significantly aspherical near maximum light/ core-collapse supernovae behave differently than thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernovae/ the asphericity of core-collapse supernovae is stronger in the inner layers showing that the explosion process itself is strongly aspherical/ core-collapse supernovae tend to establish a preferred direction of asymmetry/ the asphericity is stronger in the outer layers of thermonuclear supernovae providing constraints on the burning process. We emphasize the utility of the Q/U plane as a diagnostic tool and revisit SN 1987A and SN 1993J in a contemporary context. An axially-symmetric geometry can explain many basic features of core-collapse supernovae, but significant departures from axial symmetry are needed to explain most events. We introduce a spectropolarimetry type to classify the range of behavior observed in polarized supernovae. Understanding asymmetries in supernovae is important for phenomena as diverse as the origins of gamma-ray bursts and the cosmological applications of Type Ia supernovae in studies of the dark energy content of the universe.Note:
- Draft of Annual Review article prior to final copy editing/ 85 pages, 13 figures, 1 table
References(140)
Figures(18)