Supernova 1987A's Keyhole:A Long-lived Jet-pair in the Final Explosion Phase of Core-collapse Supernovae

I further study the manner by which a pair of opposite jets shape the“keyhole”morphological structure of the core-collapse supernova(CCSN)SN 1997A,now the CCSN remnant(CCSNR)1987A.By doing so,I strengthen the claim that the jittering-jet explosion mechanism accounts for most,likely all,CCSNe.The“keyhole”structure comprises a northern low-intensity zone closed with a bright rim on its front and an elongated low-intensity nozzle in the south.This rim-nozzle asymmetry is observed in some cooling flow clusters and planetary nebulae that are observed to be shaped by jets.I build a toy model that uses the planar jittering jets pattern,where consecutive pairs of jets tend to jitter in a common plane,implying that the accreted gas onto the newly born neutron star at the late explosion phase flows perpendicular to that plane.This allows for a long-lived jet-launching episode.This long-lasting jet-launching episode launches more mass into the jets that can inflate larger pairs of ears or bubbles,forming the main jets'axis of the CCSNR that is not necessarily related to a possible pre-collapse core rotation.I discuss the relation of the main jets'axis to the neutron star's natal kick velocity.

Prospects of the Multi-channel Photometric Survey Telescope in the Cosmological Application of Type Ia Supernovae

The Multi-channel Photometric Survey Telescope(Mephisto)is a real-time,three-color photometric system designed to capture the color evolution of stars and transients accurately.This telescope system can be crucial in cosmological distance measurements of low-redshift(low-z,z■0.1)Type Ia supernovae(SNe Ia).To optimize the capabilities of this instrument,we perform a comprehensive simulation study before its official operation is scheduled to start.By considering the impact of atmospheric extinction,weather conditions,and the lunar phase at the observing site involving the instrumental features,we simulate light curves of SNe Ia obtained by Mephisto.The best strategy in the case of SN Ia cosmology is to take the image at an exposure time of 130 s with a cadence of 3 days.In this condition,Mephisto can obtain hundreds of high-quality SNe Ia to achieve a distance measurement better than 4.5%.Given the on-time spectral classification and monitoring of the Lijiang 2.4 m Telescope at the same observatory,Mephisto,in the whole operation,can significantly enrich the well-calibrated sample of supernovae at low-z and improve the calibration accuracy of high-z SNe Ia.

Phases of Dense Matter in Supernovae and Neutron Stars

We study the properties of dense matter at finite temperature with various proton fractions for use in supernova simulations. The relativistic mean-field theory is used to describe homogeneous nuclear matter, while the Thomas-Fermi approximation is adopted to describe inhomogeneous matter. We also discuss the equation of state of neutron star matter at zero temperature in a wide density range. The equation of state at high densities can be significantly softened by the inclusion of hyperons.

A search for metal-poor stars pre-enriched by pair-instability supernovae I. A pilot study for target selection from Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We report on a pilot study on identifying metal-poor stars pre-enriched by Pair-Instability Supernovae（PISNe）.Very massive,first generation（Population Ⅲ） stars（140 M⊙≤M≤260 M⊙）end their lives as PISNe,which have been predicted by theories,but no relics of PISNe have been observed yet.Among the distinct characteristics of the yields of PISNe,as predicted by theoretical calculations,are a strong odd-even effect,and a strong overabundance of Ca with respect to iron and the solar ratio.We use the latter characteristic to identify metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo that have been pre-enriched by PISNe,by comparing metallicites derived from strong, co-added Fe lines detected in low-resolution（i.e.,R=λ/△λ～2000）spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey（SDSS）,with metallicities determined by the SDSS Stellar Parameters Pipeline（SSPP）.The latter are based on the strength of the CaⅡ K line and assumptions on the Ca/Fe abundance ratio.Stars are selected as candidates if their metallicity derived from Fe lines is significantly lower than the SSPP metallicities.In a sample of 12 300 stars for which SDSS spectroscopy is available,we have identified 18 candidate stars.Higher resolution and signal-to-noise ratio spectra of these candidates are being obtained with the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory and the XSHOOTER spectrograph,to determine their abundance patterns,and to verify our selection method.We plan to apply our method to the database of several million stellar spectra to be acquired with the Guo Shou Jing Telescope （LAMOST）in the next five years.

Predicting Gravitational Waves from Jittering-jets-driven Core Collapse Supernovae

I estimate the frequencies of gravitational waves from jittering jets that explode core collapse supernovae(CCSNe)to crudely be 5–30 Hz,and with strains that might allow detection of Galactic CCSNe.The jittering jets explosion mechanism(JJEM)asserts that most CCSNe are exploded by jittering jets that the newly born neutron star(NS)launches within a few seconds.According to the JJEM,instabilities in the accreted gas lead to the formation of intermittent accretion disks that launch the jittering jets.Earlier studies that did not include jets calculated the gravitational frequencies that instabilities around the NS emit to have a peak in the crude frequency range of 100–2000Hz.Based on a recent study,I take the source of the gravitational waves of jittering jets to be the turbulent bubbles(cocoons)that the jets inflate as they interact with the outer layers of the core of the star at thousands of kilometers from the NS.The lower frequencies and larger strains than those of gravitational waves from instabilities in CCSNe allow future,and maybe present,detectors to identify the gravitational wave signals of jittering jets.Detection of gravitational waves from local CCSNe might distinguish between the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism and the JJEM.

The Study of the Physical Properties and Energy Sources of Five Luminous Type Ibc Supernovae

In this paper,we study five luminous supernovae(LSNe)Ibc(SN 2009ca,ASASSN-15mj,SN 2019omd,SN 2002ued,and SN 2021bmf)whose peak absolute magnitudes M_(peakare)≈-19.5 to-21 mag by fitting their multi-band light curves(LCs)with different energy source models.We find that SN 2009ca might be powered by the^(56)Ni model since the required^(56)Ni mass(0.56 M_(⊙))is comparable to those of energetic SNe Ic,while the rest four SNe cannot be accounted for the^(56)Ni model since their derived^(56)Ni masses are(?)1 M_(⊙)or the ratios of the^(56)Ni mass to the ejecta mass are larger than 0.2.This indicates that some LSNe might be powered by^(56)Ni decay,while most of them need additional energy sources.We then use the magnetar plus^(56)Ni model and the fallback plus^(56)Ni model to fit the LCs of the four LSNe that cannot be explained by the^(56)Ni model,finding that the two models can account for the four SNe,and the derived parameters are comparable to those of LSNe or superluminous SNe in the literature,if they were(mainly)powered by magnetars or fallback.We suggest that the magnetar plus^(56)Ni model is more reasonable than the fallback plus^(56)Ni model,since the validity of the fallback plus^(56)Ni model depends on the value of accretion efficiency(η)and favors a largeηvalue,and the magnetar plus^(56)Ni model yields smallerχ^(2)/dof values.It should be pointed out that,however,the fallback plus^(56)Ni model is still a promising model that can account for the four SNe in our sample as well as other LSNe.

The Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae with Asymptotic Giant Branch Donors

TypeⅠa supernovae(SNe Ia)are among the most energetic events in the universe.They are excellent cosmological distance indicators due to the remarkable homogeneity of their light curves.However,the nature of the progenitors of SNeⅠa is still not well understood.In the single-degenerate model,a carbon-oxygen white dwarf(CO WD)could grow its mass by accreting material from an asymptotic giant branch(AGB)star,leading to the formation of SNe Ia when the mass of the WD approaches to the Chandrasekhar-mass limit,known as the AGB donor channel.In this channel,previous studies mainly concentrate on the wind-accretion pathway for the mass-increase of the WDs.In the present work,we employed an integrated mass-transfer prescription for the semidetached WD+AGB systems,and evolved a number of WD+AGB systems for the formation of SNe Ia through the Roche-lobe overflow process or the wind-accretion process.We provided the initial and final parameter spaces of WD+AGB systems for producing SNe Ia.We also obtained the density distribution of circumstellar matter at the moment when the WD mass reaches the Chandrasekhar-mass limit.Moreover,we found that the massive WD+AGB sample AT 2019qyl can be covered by the final parameter space for producing SNe Ia,indicating that AT 2019qyl is a strong progenitor candidate of SNe Ia with AGB donors.

Past and Future of a Type Ia Supernovae Progenitor Candidate HD 265435

As one of the most useful cosmological distance indicators,type Ia supernovae(SNe Ia)play an important role in the study of cosmology.However,the progenitors of SNe Ia are still uncertain.It has been suggested that carbonoxygen white dwarf(CO WD)+He subgiant systems could produce SNe Ia through the double-degenerate(DD)model,in which the He subgiant transfers He-rich matter to the primary CO WD and finally evolves to another CO WD.Recently,a CO WD+He star system(i.e.,HD 265435)has been discovered to be a new SNe Ia progenitor candidate based on the DD model.The orbital period of the system is about 0.0688 days,and the masses of the CO WD and the He star are 1.01±0.15 M_(⊙) and 0.63_(-0.12)^(+0.13)M_(⊙),respectively.In this work,we evolve a large number of primordial binaries to the formation of CO WD+He star systems and investigate the evolutionary history of HD265435.We find that HD 265435 may originate from a primordial binary that has a 5.18 M_(⊙) primary and a3.66 M_(⊙) secondary with an initial orbital period of 5200 days.The CO WD+He star system would be formed after the primordial binary experiences two common-envelope ejection processes.We also find that HD 265435 would evolve to a double WD system with a total mass of 1.58 M⊙after a stable mass-transfer process,and the double WD system would merge driven by gravitational wave radiation.We estimate that it would take about 76 Myr for HD 265435 to form an SN Ia.In addition,HD 265435 would be a potential target of space-based gravitational wave observatories(e.g.,LISA,Taiji and TianQin).

The Energy Sources and the Explosion Mechanism of Ca-rich Supernova PTF 10iuv

In this paper,we perform the detailed modeling for the light curves(LCs)of PTF 10iuv which is a calcium-rich(Ca-rich)supernova(SN)to constrain the physical properties of its ejecta and the energy sources,as well as the explosion mechanism.We find that the^(56)Ni model and the56Ni plus circumstellar interaction model fail to explain the LCs,while the four-element(^(56)Ni,^(48)Cr,^(52)Fe,and^(44)Ti)model can account for the LCs.The ejecta mass of PTF10iuv derived by the model(1.52_(-0.25)^(+0.34)M_(⊙))is consistent with that of the merger of a sub-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf.The early-time LCs were mainly powered by^(56)Ni whose mass is~0.03 M_(⊙),while the contributions of^(48)Cr and^(52)Fe can be neglected.The derived^(44)Ti mass(~0.25 M_(⊙))is~1.8 times the upper limit of the derived^(44)Ti mass of Ca-rich SN 2005E.We suggest that subtracting the contributions of the host-galaxy,which are unknown,and including the flux from other long-lived elements(e.g.,^(57)Co,^(55)Fe,^(60)Co)can reduce the amount of^(44)Ti,and that this value can be regarded as an upper limit.

Point-symmetry in SNR G1.9+0.3:A Supernova that Destroyed its Planetary Nebula Progenitor

I analyze a new X-ray image of the youngest supernova remnant(SNR)in the Galaxy,which is the type Ia SNR G1.9+0.3,and reveal a very clear point-symmetrical structure.Since explosion models of type Ia supernovae(SNe Ia)do not form such morphologies,the point-symmetrical morphology must come from the circumstellar material(CSM)into which the ejecta expands.The large-scale point-symmetry that I identify and the known substantial deceleration of the ejecta of SNR G1.9+0.3 suggest a relatively massive CSM of■1M⊙.I argue that the most likely explanation is the explosion of this SN Ia into a planetary nebula.The scenario that predicts a large fraction of SN Ia inside PNe(SNIPs)is the core degenerate scenario.Other SN Ia scenarios might lead to only a very small fraction of SNIPs or none at all.

A Study of Magnetized White Dwarf+Helium Star Binary Evolution to Type Ia Supernovae

The white dwarf(WD)+helium(He)star binary channel plays an important role in the single degenerate scenario for the progenitors of type Ia supernovae(SNe Ia).Previous studies on the WD+main sequence star evolution have shown that the magnetic fields of WDs may significantly influence their accretion and nuclear burning processes.In this work we focus on the evolution of magnetized WD+He star binaries with detailed stellar evolution and binary population synthesis(BPS)calculations.In the case of magnetized WDs,the magnetic fields may disrupt the inner regions of the accretion disk,funnel the accretion flow onto the polar caps and even confine helium burning within the caps.We find that,for WDs with sufficiently strong magnetic fields,the parameter space of the potential SN Ia progenitor systems shrinks toward shorter orbital periods and lower donor masses compared with that in the non-magnetized WD case.The reason is that the magnetic confinement usually works with relatively high mass transfer rates,which can trigger strong wind mass loss from the WD,thus limiting the He-rich mass accumulation efficiency.The surviving companion stars are likely of low-mass at the moment of the SN explosions,which can be regarded as a possible explanation for the non-detection of surviving companions after the SNe or inside the SN remnants.However,the corresponding birthrate of Galactic SNe Ia in our high-magnetic models is estimated to be~(0.08–0.13)×10^(-3)yr^(-1)(~0.17–0.28×10^(-3)yr^(-1)for the non-magnetic models),significantly lower than the observed Galactic SN Ia birthrate.

Amplifying magnetic fields of a newly born neutron star by stochastic angular momentum accretion in core collapse supernovae

I present a novel mechanism to boost magnetic field amplification of newly born neutron stars in core collapse supernovae.In this mechanism,that operates in the jittering jets explosion mechanism and comes on top of the regular magnetic field amplification by turbulence,the accretion of stochastic angular momentum in core collapse supernovae forms a neutron star with strong initial magnetic fields but with a slow rotation.The varying angular momentum of the accreted gas,which is unique to the jittering jets explosion mechanism,exerts a varying azimuthal shear on the magnetic fields of the accreted mass near the surface of the neutron star.This,I argue,can form an amplifying effect which I term the stochastic omega(Sω) effect.In the common αω dynamo the rotation has constant direction and value,and hence supplies a constant azimuthal shear,while the convection has a stochastic behavior.In the Sω dynamo the stochastic angular momentum is different from turbulence in that it operates on a large scale,and it is different from a regular rotational shear in being stochastic.The basic assumption is that because of the varying direction of the angular momentum axis from one accretion episode to the next,the rotational flow of an accretion episode stretches the magnetic fields that were amplified in the previous episode.I estimate the amplification factor of the Sω dynamo alone to be ≈ 10.I speculate that the Sω effect accounts for a recent finding that many neutron stars are born with strong magnetic fields.

Quark-novae in neutron star - white dwarf binaries: a model for luminous (spin-down powered) sub-Chandrasekhar-mass Type Ia supernovae?

We show that, by appealing to a Quark-Nova （QN） in a tight binary system containing a massive neutron star and a CO white dwarf （WD）, a Type Ia explosion could occur. The QN ejecta collides with the WD, driving a shock that triggers carbon burning under degenerate conditions （the QN-Ia）. The conditions in the compressed low-mass WD （MwD 〈 0.9 M） in our model mimic those of a Chandrasekhar mass WD. The spin-down luminosity from the QN compact remnant （the quark star） pro- vides additional power that makes the QN-Ia light-curve brighter and broader than a standard SN-Ia with similar 56Ni yield. In QNe-Ia, photometry and spectroscopy are not necessarily linked since the kinetic energy of the ejecta has a contribution from spin-down power and nuclear decay. Although QNe-Ia may not obey the Phillips relationship, their brightness and their relatively ＂normal looking＂ light-curves mean they could be included in the cosmological sample. Light-curve fitters would be con- fused by the discrepancy between spectroscopy at peak and photometry and would correct for it by effectively brightening or dimming the QNe-Ia apparent magnitudes, thus over- or under-estimating the true magnitude of these spin-down powered SNe-Ia. Contamination of QNe-Ia in samples of SNe-Ia used for cosmological analyses could systematically bias measurements of cosmological parameters if QNe-Ia are numerous enough at high-redshift. The strong mixing induced by spin-down wind combined with the low 56Ni yields in QNe-Ia means that these would lack a secondary maximum in the/-band despite their luminous nature. We discuss possible QNe-Ia progenitors.

On the Rotation Properties of a Post-explosion Helium-star Companion in Type Iax Supernovae

Recent studies have suggested that type lax supernovae(SNe lax) are likely to result from a weak deflagration explosion of a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf in a binary system with a helium(He)-star companion.Assuming that most SNe Iax are produced from this scenario,in this work we extend our previous work on the threedimensional hydrodynamical simulation of ejecta-companion interaction by taking the orbital and spin velocities of the progenitor system into account.We then follow the post-impact evolution of a surviving He-star companion by using the one-dimensional stellar evolution code MESA.We aim to investigate the post-explosion rotation properties of a He-star companion in SNe Iax.We find that the He-star companion spins down after the impact due to the angular-momentum loss and expansion caused by the mass-stripping and shock heating during the interaction.This leads to the situation where the surface rotational speed of the surviving companion can drop to one-third of its pre-explosion value when it expands to a maximum radius a few years after the impact.Subsequently,the star shrinks and spins up again once the deposited energy is released.This spin-switching feature of the surviving He-star companions of SNe Iax may be useful for the identification of such objects in future observations.

New Variable Stars Discovered as By-product of the Beijing Astronomical Observatory Supernova Survey

The Beijing Astronomical Observatory (BAO) 0.6 m telescope has been used for nearby supernova survey in more than 3000 fields, covering a total area of 235 deg2. More than 260000 CCD images have been collected since April 1996, with 45 supernovae discovered. We searched for variables in about 90000 images taken during 1996-1998. For the fields in which long period variables (LPVs) were discovered, we reduced further images taken from 1999 to 2000, for the period estimation. Among the 280000 stars selected from the survey fields, i.e., brighter than 18 mag, we discovered seven new LPVs and reconfirmed three known LPVs. Additionally, we found 146 variable star candidates, and reconfirmed about 20 previously known or suspected objects.

Color excesses of type Ia supernovae from the single-degenerate channel model

The single degenerate model is the most widely accepted progenitor model of type Ia supernovae （SNe Ia）, in which a carbon-oxygen white dwarf （CO WD） accretes hydrogen-rich material from a main sequence or a slightly evolved star （WD＋MS） to increase its mass, and explodes when its mass approaches the Chandrasekhar mass limit. During the mass transfer phase between the two components, an optically thick wind may occur and the material lost as wind may exist as circumstellar material （CSM）. Searching for the CSM around a progenitor star is helpful for discriminating different progenitor models of SNe Ia. In addition, the CSM is a source of color excess. The purpose of this paper is to study the color excess produced from the single-degenerate progenitor model with an optically thick wind, and reproduce the distribution of color excesses of SNe Ia. Meng et al. systemically carded out binary evolution calculations of the WD ＋MS systems for various metallicities and showed the parameters of the systems before Roche lobe overflow and at the moment of supernova explosion in Meng ＆ Yang. With the results of Meng et al., we calculate the color excesses of SNe Ia at maximum light via a simple analytic method. We reproduce the distribution of color excesses of SNe Ia by our binary population synthesis approach if the velocity of the optically thick wind is taken to be an order of magnitude of 10km s^-1. However, if the wind velocity is larger than 100km s^-1, the reproduction is bad.

Supernova neutrinos in a strangeon star model

The neutrino burst detected during supernova SN 1987A is explained in a strangeon star model, in which it is proposed that a pulsar-like compact object is composed of strangeons （strangeon： an abbreviation for ＂strange nucleon＂）. A nascent strangeon star＇s initial internal energy is calculated, with the inclusion of pion excitation （energy around 1053 erg, comparable to the gravitational binding energy of a collapsed core）. A liquid-solid phase transition at temperature - 1 - 2 MeV may occur only a few tens of seconds after core collapse, and the thermal evolution of a strangeon star is then modeled. It is found that the neutrino burst observed from SN 1987A can be reproduced in such a cooling model.

The Guest Star of AD185 must have been a Supernova

The ＂guest star＂ of AD185, recorded in the ancient Chinese history the Houhanshu, has been widely regarded as a supernova. However, some authors have suggested that the guest star might have been a comet. It has also been proposed that the record is the concatenation of a nova with a comet made by an early compiler. We have checked the record of the guest star, comparing it with records of comets in the same history. We find that most descriptions of comets clearly indicate motion, whereas the record of the guest star does not. We further argue that the term ＂yan＂ used to describe the star＇s ＂size＂ might be short for yanchuang （seat bed）, and ＂half a yan＂ would be simply as an imaginary figuration of the ancient observer. Moreover, we show that the term ＂hou -year＂ （hou-nian） most probably means the year after next. We argue that the asterism Southern Gate consisted of the stars α andβ Cen. We conclude that the record describing the guest star of AD 185 is completely different from any comet record in the same history, and that it almost certainly was a supernova.

Distribution of ^(56)Ni Yields of Type Ia Supernovae and its Implication for Progenitors

The amount of 56↑Ni produced in Type Ia supernova （SN Ia） explosion is probably the most important physical parameter underlying the observed correlation of SN Ia luminosities with their light curves. Based on an empirical relation between the 56↑Ni mass and the light curve parameter △m15, we obtained rough estimates of the 56↑Ni mass for a large sample of nearby SNe Ia with the aim of exploring the diversity in SN Ia. We found that the derived 56↑Ni masses for different SNe Ia could vary by a factor of ten （e.g., MNi = 0.1 - 1.3 M⊙）, which cannot be explained in terms of the standard Chandrasekhar-mass model （with a 56↑Ni mass production of 0.4 - 0.8 M⊙）. Different explosion and/or progenitor models are clearly required for various SNe Ia, in particular, for those extremely nickel-poor and nickel-rich producers. The nickel-rich （with MNi 〉 0.8 M⊙） SNe Ia are very luminous and may have massive progenitors exceeding the Chandrasekhar-mass limit since extra progenitor fuel is required to produce more 56↑Ni to power the light curve. This is also consistent with the finding that the intrinsically bright SNe Ia prefer to occur in stellar environments of young and massive stars. For example, 75% SNe Ia in spirals have △ml5 〈 1.2 while this ratio is only 18% in E/S0 galaxies. The nickel-poor SNe Ia （with MNi 〈 0.2 M⊙） may invoke the sub- Chandrasekhar model, as most of them were found in early-type E/S0 galaxies dominated by the older and low-mass stellar populations. This indicates that SNe Ia in spiral and E/S0 galaxies have progenitors of different properties.

Type Ia Supernova Explosions in Binary Systems:A Review

Type Ia supernovae(SNe Ia)play a key role in the fields of astrophysics and cosmology.It is widely accepted that SNe Ia arise from thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs(WDs)in binary systems.However,there is no consensus on the fundamental aspects of the nature of SN Ia progenitors and their actual explosion mechanism.This fundamentally flaws our understanding of these important astrophysical objects.In this review,we outline the diversity of SNe Ia and the proposed progenitor models and explosion mechanisms.We discuss the recent theoretical and observational progress in addressing the SN Ia progenitor and explosion mechanism in terms of the observables at various stages of the explosion,including rates and delay times,pre-explosion companion stars,ejecta–companion interaction,early excess emission,early radio/X-ray emission from circumstellar material interaction,surviving companion stars,late-time spectra and photometry,polarization signals and supernova remnant properties.Despite the efforts from both the theoretical and observational sides,questions of how the WDs reach an explosive state and what progenitor systems are more likely to produce SNe Ia remain open.No single published model is able to consistently explain all observational features and the full diversity of SNe Ia.This may indicate that either a new progenitor paradigm or an improvement in current models is needed if all SNe Ia arise from the same origin.An alternative scenario is that different progenitor channels and explosion mechanisms contribute to SNe Ia.In the next decade,the ongoing campaigns with the James Webb Space Telescope,Gaia and the Zwicky Transient Facility,and upcoming extensive projects with the Vera C.Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time and the Square Kilometre Array will allow us to conduct not only studies of individual SNe Ia in unprecedented detail but also systematic investigations for different subclasses of SNe Ia.This will advance theory and observations of SNe Ia sufficiently far to gain a deeper understanding of their origin and explosion mechanism.