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Candle in the wind Type Ia supernovae are used as cosmological distance indicators. It is through them that the accelerating expansion of the Universe was detected, and with it the implied existence of dark energy. Their presumed reliability as 'standard candles' stems from the fact they have a fixed amount of fuel and a uniform trigger: they are predicted to explode when the mass of the white dwarf nears 1.4 solar masses, the 'Chandrasekhar' mass. Howell et al . now show that the high-redshift supernova SNLS-03D3bb does not play by these rules: its exceptionally high luminosity and low kinetic energy imply a super-Chandrasekhar mass progenitor. So future cosmological studies may need to consider possible contamination from such events when calculating distances. The high-redshift supernova SNLS-03D3bb has an exceptionally high luminosity and low kinetic energy, which both imply a super-Chandrasekhar mass progenitor. The accelerating expansion of the Universe, and the need for dark energy, were inferred from observations 1 , 2 of type Ia supernovae. There is a consensus that type Ia supernovae are thermonuclear explosions that destroy carbon–oxygen white dwarf stars that have accreted matter from a companion star 3 , although the nature of this companion remains uncertain. These supernovae are thought to be reliable distance indicators because they have a standard amount of fuel and a uniform trigger: they are predicted to explode when the mass of the white dwarf nears the Chandrasekhar mass 4 of 1.4 solar masses ( M ⊙ ). Here we show that the high-redshift supernova SNLS-03D3bb has an exceptionally high luminosity and low kinetic energy that both imply a super-Chandrasekhar-mass progenitor. Super-Chandrasekhar-mass supernovae should occur preferentially in a young stellar population, so this may provide an explanation for the observed trend that overluminous type Ia supernovae occur only in ‘young’ environments 5 , 6 . As this supernova does not obey the relations that allow type Ia supernovae to be calibrated as standard candles, and as no counterparts have been found at low redshift, future cosmology studies will have to consider possible contamination from such events.

This book provides a comprehensive, self-contained introduction to one of the most exciting frontiers in astrophysics today: the quest to understand how the oldest and most distant galaxies in our universe first formed. Until now, most research on this question has been theoretical, but the next few years will bring about a new generation of large telescopes that promise to supply a flood of data about the infant universe during its first billion years after the big bang. This book bridges the gap between theory and observation. It is an invaluable reference for students and researchers on early galaxies. The First Galaxies in the Universestarts from basic physical principles before moving on to more advanced material. Topics include the gravitational growth of structure, the intergalactic medium, the formation and evolution of the first stars and black holes, feedback and galaxy evolution, reionization, 21-cm cosmology, and more. Provides a comprehensive introduction to this exciting frontier in astrophysicsBegins from first principlesCovers advanced topics such as the first stars and 21-cm cosmologyPrepares students for research using the next generation of large telescopesDiscusses many open questions to be explored in the coming decade

Abstract Type Ia supernovae are not only the major sources of iron but also “standard candles” for measuring distances in the Universe. Although these supernovae are important, their explosion mechanism is still under study. Mathematical modeling is a major (if not the only) tool for studying such astrophysical phenomena. It can be used to compile rather complex scenarios of type Ia supernova explosions. One of the scenarios is a generalized mechanism of gravitational impact, which is based on collisions of white dwarfs. The mathematical model of white dwarfs used in the paper is based on a numerical solution of the equations of gravitational hydrodynamics with an adapted stellar equation of state. The subgrid carbon burning is realized in the form of direct simulation of turbulent burning of the matter. This approach makes it possible to reproduce carbon burning in a more detailed and correct way in terms of energy. To study the scenarios of a gravitational impact, we use an auxiliary one-dimensional statement of the problem of collision of white dwarfs based on an analytical solution of the problem of discontinuity breakdown in a degenerate gas. Despite the simplicity of this problem, some necessary conditions for the ignition of carbon and its further burning can be obtained in the process of its solution. Using computational experiments on a supercomputer to solve problems of type Ia supernova explosions in the full three-dimensional statement, we study in detail scenarios obtained in solving the one-dimensional problems. Two main parameters have been identified, the collision velocity and the minimum temperature of white dwarfs, and an experimental relation has been obtained between these parameters and the scenarios for a type Ia/Iax supernova explosion under a gravitational impact.

Dust associated with various stellar sources in galaxies at all cosmic epochs remains a controversial topic, particularly whether supernovae play an important role in dust production. We report evidence of dust formation in the cold, dense shell behind the ejecta–circumstellar medium (CSM) interaction in the Type Ia-CSM supernova (SN) 2018evt three years after the explosion, characterized by a rise in mid-infrared emission accompanied by an accelerated decline in the optical radiation of the SN. Such a dust-formation picture is also corroborated by the concurrent evolution of the profiles of the Hα emission line. Our model suggests enhanced CSM dust concentration at increasing distances from the SN as compared to what can be expected from the density profile of the mass loss from a steady stellar wind. By the time of the last mid-infrared observations at day +1,041, a total amount of 1.2 ± 0.2 × 10 −2   M ⊙ of new dust has been formed by SN 2018evt, making SN 2018evt one of the most prolific dust factories among supernovae with evidence of dust formation. The unprecedented witness of the intense production procedure of dust may shed light on the perceptions of dust formation in cosmic history. By day 1,041 after explosion, SN Ia-CSM 2018evt had produced an estimated 0.01 solar masses of dust in the cold, dense shell behind the supernova ejecta–circumstellar medium interaction, ranking it as one of the most prolific dust-producing supernovae ever recorded.

Previous studies have shown that for the Supernova Legacy Survey three-year （SNLS3） data there is strong evidence for the redshifl- evolution of color-luminosity parameter β of type Ia supernovae （SN Ia）. In this paper, we explore the effects of varying β on the cosmological constraints of holographic dark energy （HDE） model. In addition to the SNLS3 data, we also use Planck distance prior data of cosmic microwave background （CMB）, as well as galaxy clustering （GC） data extracted from Sloan Digital Sky Survey （SDSS） data release 7 and Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey （BOSS）. We find that, for the both cases of using SN data alone and using SN＋CMB＋GC data, involving an additional parameter of β can reduce χ^2 by - 36; this shows that β deviates from a constant at 6σ- confidence levels. Adopting SN＋CMB＋GC data, we find that compared to the constant β case, varying β yields a larger fractional matter density Ωm0 and a smaller reduced Hubble constant h; moreover, varying β significantly increases the value of HDE model parameter c, leading to c ≈ 0.8, consistent with the constraint results obtained before Planck. These results indicate that the evolution of β should be taken into account seriously in the cosmological fits. In addition, we find that relative to the differences between the constant β and varying β（z） cases, the effects of different light-curve fitters on parameter estimation are very small.

A bright (m F150W,AB = 24 mag), z = 1.95 supernova (SN) candidate was discovered in JWST/NIRCam imaging acquired on 2023 November 17. The SN is quintuply imaged as a result of strong gravitational lensing by a foreground galaxy cluster, detected in three locations, and remarkably is the second lensed SN found in the same host galaxy. The previous lensed SN was called “Requiem,” and therefore the new SN is named “Encore.” This makes the MACS J0138.0−2155 cluster the first known system to produce more than one multiply imaged SN. Moreover, both SN Requiem and SN Encore are Type Ia SNe (SNe Ia), making this the most distant case of a galaxy hosting two SNe Ia. Using parametric host fitting, we determine the probability of detecting two SNe Ia in this host galaxy over a ∼10 yr window to be ≈3%. These observations have the potential to yield a Hubble constant (H 0) measurement with ∼10% precision, only the third lensed SN capable of such a result, using the three visible images of the SN. Both SN Requiem and SN Encore have a fourth image that is expected to appear within a few years of ∼2030, providing an unprecedented baseline for time-delay cosmography.

We present griz photometric light curves for the full 5 yr of the Dark Energy Survey Supernova (DES-SN) program, obtained with both forced point-spread function photometry on difference images (DiffImg) performed during survey operations, and scene modelling photometry (SMP) on search images processed after the survey. This release contains 31,636 DiffImg and 19,706 high-quality SMP light curves, the latter of which contain 1635 photometrically classified SNe that pass cosmology quality cuts. This sample spans the largest redshift (z) range ever covered by a single SN survey (0.1 < z < 1.13) and is the largest single sample from a single instrument of SNe ever used for cosmological constraints. We describe in detail the improvements made to obtain the final DES-SN photometry and provide a comparison to what was used in the 3 yr DES-SN spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia SN sample. We also include a comparative analysis of the performance of the SMP photometry with respect to the real-time DiffImg forced photometry and find that SMP photometry is more precise, more accurate, and less sensitive to the host-galaxy surface brightness anomaly. The public release of the light curves and ancillary data can be found at github.com/des-science/DES-SN5YR and doi:10.5281/zenodo.12720777.

White dwarfs which explode by the double-detonation mechanism may have a binary white dwarf donor which is subsequently ignited by its collision with the ejecta. This results in the destruction of the donor via either the triple- or quadruple-detonation mechanism, adding significant mass to the resulting ejecta as well as modifying its structure and composition. We simulate the evolution of supernova remnants resulting from such detonations in a variety of binary progenitors and compare them against a double detonation with a surviving donor. Because of the time delay between the detonations of the two white dwarfs, high-velocity ejecta from the first explosion govern the first few centuries of remnant evolution, whereas at later times the dense core resulting from the donor detonation drives both the forward and reverse shocks to larger radii. The collision between the highest-velocity ejecta of the primary explosion and the donor carves a conical wake into the ejecta, which persists into the remnant phase regardless of whether or not the donor detonates. Our suite of simulated remnants is found to exhibit multiple distinguishing features of the explosion properties: a distinct X-ray morphology in the thermal emission and iron lines for triple detonations and smaller remnants with centrally concentrated emission for double detonations. The remnants are also varied in their elemental abundances and distributions, particularly for lighter elements, but these have limited observational utility and are sensitive to the properties of the progenitor binary.

SN 2020eyj is the first Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) showing the signature of compact helium-rich circumstellar material (CSM). Such a large amount of CSM is difficult to explain in a single-degenerate scenario where the donor star is a helium star. Here we show that, under certain conditions, it is possible that the transfer of helium leads to a common envelope (CE) engulfing the system, similar to the CE wind model proposed by X. Meng & P. Podsiadlowski. If in such a helium CE wind model the initial white dwarf mass is larger than 1.1 M⊙ and the helium star is more massive than 1.8 M⊙, the mass of a helium CE can be larger than 0.3 M⊙ prior to supernova explosion. The CE mass heavily depends on the initial parameters of the binary system. A dynamical CE ejection event could occur shortly before the supernova, and then our model may naturally explain the properties of SN 2020eyj, specifically the massive He-rich CSM, and its dim peak brightness, low ejecta velocity, and low birth rate.

Type Ia supernovae are triggered by accretion onto a white dwarf from a companion that is most likely Roche lobe–filling at the time of the explosion. The collision between the ejecta and a surviving companion carves out a conical wake, which could manifest as an asymmetry when the ejecta reaches the remnant phase. We simulate the companion interaction using the Athena++ hydrodynamics solver to determine the ejecta structure for a double-degenerate type Ia supernova. Ejecta in the wake is of lower density and higher velocity than the unperturbed ejecta. We then evolve the ejecta for several thousand years using the expanding-grid code Sprout. The forward shock within the wake is initially indented, but becomes spherical after roughly a thousand years due to transverse motion of shocked ejecta that fills the wake. The reverse shock travels quickly within the wake, leading to an off-center convergence of the reverse shock and leaving the remnant with an asymmetrical core. This also draws material from the interstellar medium deep into the remnant, eventually reaching the center. Large Rayleigh–Taylor plumes are found around the edge of the wake, creating a toroidal structure composed primarily of ejecta. Estimates of the thermal X-ray emission show that such remnants exhibit observable asymmetries for thousands of years.