Ｓｕｐｅｒｌｕｍｉｎｏｕｓ Ｓｕｐｅｒｎｏｖａ Ｒａｔｅｓ

2013 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24740118
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: QUIMBY Robert.M 東京大学, カブリ数物連携宇宙研究機構, 特任研究員 (10624140)
• Keywords: superluminous supernova / gravitationally lensed / identifying technique

Research Abstract

I published the first measurement of the local superluminous supernova (SLSN) rate and I began work on a new method to identify superluminous supernova candidates from imaging survey data. I used a small but complete sample to measure the nearby (z~0.2) rate of SLSN. To do this, I first published a paper on the rate of Type Ia supernovae from the same survey data. I found that previous publications of the Type Ia rate may be biased and may have under-counted the true event rate. In my SLSN rate paper, I found that there is about 1000 normal supernova for every one SLSNe, which demonstrates how rare these events are.
In FY2013, I worked to identify the first Type Ia supernova seen through a strong gravitational lens. The object, PS1-10afx, was originally presented as a new type of superluminous supernova. However, given my studies of superlumious supernova, I found that the object was completely different from all known SLSN. Instead, I found it closely resembled a Type Ia supernova, but it was simply too bright. Working with other researchers at Kavli IPMU, we published a paper explaining how gravitational lensing could make a normal Type Ia supernova look like PS1-10afx. We followed this work up with a second paper demonstrating the existence of the gravitational lens. We additionally published a new technique for identifying such gravitationally lensed supernovae in the future and separating them from superluminous supernovae.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Detection of the Gravitational Lens Magnifying a Type Ia Supernova (2014)
  • Author(s): Robert M. Quimby, Masamune Oguri, Anupreeta More, Surhud More, Takashi J. Moriya, Marcus C. Werner, Masayuki Tanaka, Gaston Folatelli, Melina C. Bersten, Keiichi Maeda, Ken'ichi Nomoto
  • Journal Title: Science Volume: 344 Pages: 396-399
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Extraordinary Magnification of the Ordinary Type Ia Supernova PS1-10afx (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.; Werner, Marcus C.; Oguri, Masamune; More, Surhud; More, Anupreeta; Tanaka, Masayuki; Nomoto, Ken'ichi; Moriya, Takashi J.; Folatelli, Gaston; Maeda, Keiichi; Bersten, Melina
  • Journal Title: Astrophysical Journal Letters Volume: 768 Pages: 20-25
  • DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/768/1/L20
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Properties of Newly Formed Dust Grains in the Luminous Type IIn Supernova 2010jl (2013)
  • Author(s): Maeda, K.; Nozawa, T.; Sahu, D. K.; Minowa, Y.; Motohara, K.; Ueno, I.; Folatelli, G.; Pyo, T.-S.; Kitagawa, Y.; Kawabata, K. S.; Anupama, G. C.; Kozasa, T.; Moriya, T. J.; Yamanaka, M.; Nomoto, K.; Bersten, M.; Quimby, R.; Iye, M.
  • Journal Title: Astrophysical Journal Volume: 776 Pages: 5
  • DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/776/1/5
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] Discovery of a Gravitationally Lensed Type Ia Supernova (2014)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: Subaru Users Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: NAOJ
  • Year and Date: 20140123-20140123
• [Presentation] Discovery of a Gravitationally Lensed Type Ia Supernova (2014)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: American Astronomical Society Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: Washington DC, USA
  • Year and Date: 20140108-20140108
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: WISH Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: NAOJ
  • Year and Date: 20131202-20131202
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: iPTF Workshop
  • Place of Presentation: Pasadena, California, USA
  • Year and Date: 20130813-20130813
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: Cook's Branch Astronomy Workshop
  • Place of Presentation: Cook's Branch, Texas, USA
  • Year and Date: 20130408-20130408
  • Invited