Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We present late-time photometry (~100-400 days after peak) and nebular-phase optical/NIR spectroscopy (100-360 days) of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) SN 2023bee. This SN Ia was observed TESS immediately before and after explosion and showed a relatively weak early excess light-curve feature detected in multiple UV and optical bands. Possible explanations for this early excess feature include interaction between the SN ejecta and a non-degenerate companion, or the decay of radioactive isotopes synthesized near the ejecta surface in a sub-$\text{M}_\text{Ch}$ double-detonation scenario. However, the degeneracies and incompleteness of existing models have so far prevented a definitive conclusion about its progenitor system. Nebular-phase spectra provide a complementary probe of SN Ia progenitors by constraining stripped H/He-rich material and iron-group abundances sensitive to the progenitor white dwarf density. We report the non-detection of narrow H/He features in nebular phase optical/NIR spectra of SN 2023bee, placing upper limits of $m^{\text{stripped}}_\text{H}\lesssim5.0\times10^{-3}\text{ M}_\odot$ and $m_\text{He}^{\text{stripped}}\lesssim1.2\times10^{-4}\text{ M}_\odot$. These limits strongly disfavor a non-degenerate companion and suggest that companion interaction is unlikely to explain the early excess of SN 2023bee. We also performed line-diagnostic measurements on the 7200 Åcomplex using multi-Gaussian fitting and continuum estimation, with the inferred velocities validated against NIR spectrum at the similar phase. The resulting low Ni-to-Fe mass ratio, $m_\text{Ni}/m_\text{Fe}\lesssim 0.06$, is broadly consistent with a sub-$M_{\text{Ch}}$ double-detonation progenitor system.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: von Coelln, Sophie, Wang, Qinan, Siebert, Matthew R., Chen, Ping, Rest, Armin, Dessart, Luc, Zenati, Yossef, Dimitriadis, Georgios, Auchettl, Katie, Chen, Siyuan, Davis, Kyle W., de Boer, Thomas, Foley, Ryan J., Gal-Yam, Avishay, Hoogendam, Willem B., Huber, Mark E., Izzo, Luca, Kilpatrick, Charles D., Lin, Chien-Cheng, Liu, Chang, Lowe, Thomas Bernard, Narayan, Gautham, Rojas-Bravo, César, Sedgewick, Aidan, Shukawa, Koji, Wainscoat, Richard J.
Institutions: Case Western Reserve University, Weizmann Institute of Science, Space Telescope Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Open University of Israel, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, University of Hawaii System, Northwestern University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Copenhagen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, W. M. Keck Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, California Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Villum Fonden, National Centre for Supercomputing Applications, Space Telescope Science Institute, Carnegie Institution for Science, European Commission, Queen's University Belfast, Durham University, Israel Science Foundation, National Central University, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Science Mission Directorate, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Planetary Science Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Awards: G1028008162, G1245046120, G1492515158, G1700342535, G1778250975, EARTH IS OCCASIONALLY STRUCK BY AN ASTEROID OR COMET LARGE ENOUGH TO CAUSE A SIGNIFICANT EXPLOSION AND LOSS OF LIFE. THE MOST LIKELY IMPACT IS BY A RELATIVELY SMALL OBJECT AND THE BEST MITIGATION STRATEGY MAY SIMPLY BE TO MOVE PEOPLE OUT OF THE WAY. WITH ENOUGH WARNING A SMALL ASTEROID IMPACT WOULD NOT CAUSE LOSS OF LIFE AND PORTABLE PROPERTY MIGHT EVEN BE PRESERVED. WE HAVE BUILT AN "EARLY WARNING" SYSTEM THAT PROVIDES A THREE WEEK NOTICE OF MOST 140M ASTEROIDS OR COMETS ON TRACK TO HIT THE EARTH AND A WEEK'S NOTICE FOR MOST 50M ASTEROIDS. THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN DESIGNED BUILT AND BROUGHT INTO OPERATION IN LESS THAN THREE YEARS AND IS EASILY REPLICABLE. THE "ASTEROID TERRESTRIAL-IMPACT LAST ALERT SYSTEM" (ATLAS) CURRENTLY COMPRISES TWO OBSERVATORIES SEPARATED BY ABOUT 100KM THAT CAN SCAN THE ENTIRE VISIBLE SKY MORE THAN TWICE A NIGHT TO MAGNITUDE 20. SOFTWARE AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERS COMPARISONS WITH THE UNCHANGING SKY AND IDENTIFIES EVERYTHING THAT HAS MOVED OR CHANGED. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE OBSERVATORIES AND THE IAU MINOR PLANET CENTER LOCKS DOWN THE ORBIT OF ANYTHING APPROACHING THE EARTH. THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS FUNDING TO CONTINUE OPERATIONS OF THE TWO ATLAS UNITS ALREADY BUILT AND TO CONSTRUCT TWO MORE UNITS FOR THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. ATLAS IS COMPLEMENTARY TO MANY EXISTING SURVEYS FOR NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS (NEOS) BY VIRTUE OF BEING ALL-SKY: IT CAN DETECT MOST 140M NEOS THAT PASS WITHIN 0.1AU OF THE EARTH. ATLAS MAY FIND MORE THAN 500 NEOS PER YEAR EVEN THOUGH ITS FORTE IS DISCOVERY OF THE SUBSET OF NEOS THAT PASS VERY CLOSE TO THE EARTH. ITS STEADY SKY COVERAGE IS ALSO VALUABLE FOR DISCOVERY OF LOW DELTA-V ASTEROIDS CANDIDATE TARGETS FOR A MANNED MISSION. FURTHERMORE ATLAS WILL CHARACTERIZE THE NEO POPULATION AND ALL THE OTHER OBJECTS IT DETECTS BY OBTAINING HUNDREDS OF LIGHT CURVE POINTS PER YEAR THAT WILL ENABLE THE DETERMINATION OF THEIR SHAPE AND SPIN AND ALSO BY OBTAINING SIMULTANEOUS COLOR MEASUREMENTS. OBJECTIVES: ATLAS WILL 1) PROVIDE WARNING THAT IS USEFUL ON A CIVIL DEFENSE TIMESCALE FOR THE MAJORITY OF EARTH-IMPACTING ASTEROIDS OF 50M SIZE OR LARGER 2) REDISCOVER 50% OF ALL 1000M NEOS AND POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS OBJECTS (PHO) WITHIN 1 YEAR 70% IN 3 YEARS AND 90% IN 10 YEARS DISCOVER MORE THAN 400 NEOS AND 100 PHOS PER YEAR OF 140M SIZE OR LARGER 3) DETECT ABOUT ONE SMALL ASTEROID PER YEAR THAT HITS THE EARTH 4) DISCOVER LOW DELTA-V ASTEROIDS 5) ENABLE SHAPE AND SPIN CALCULATIONS FROM HUNDREDS OF OBSERVATIONS PER YEAR OF THOUSANDS OF ASTEROIDS AND 6) DETECT ALL PLUTO-SIZED OBJECTS WITHIN A DISTANCE OF 120 AU. METHODS: WE HAVE BUILT A PAIR OF SMALL OBSERVATORIES EACH WITH AN 0.5M TELESCOPE THAT COVERS 30 SQUARE DEG WITH EACH EXPOSURE AND WE HAVE WRITTEN ALL THE SOFTWARE REQUIRED FOR THEM TO OPERATE WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION. WE ARE CURRENTLY REPORTING ASTEROID AND COMET DETECTIONS TO THE MPC AND AS THE SYSTEM COMES FULLY ONLINE OUR RATE OF DISCOVERY WILL INCREASE BY A FACTOR OF 10. BY BUILDING ANOTHER TWO UNITS IN THE SOUTH AND AT DIFFERENT LONGITUDE WE WILL DOUBLE OUR DETECTION PROBABILITY FOR THE NEXT CHELYABINSKSIZED IMPACTOR. SIGNIFICANCE: THIS PROJECT WORKS TOWARDS ACCOMPLISHING THE CONGRESSIONAL MANDATE TO MITIGATE THE HAZARD FROM EARTH-IMPACTING ASTEROIDS BY FOCUSING ON DETECTION OF NEARLY ALL HAZARDOUS ASTEROIDS IN THE DAYS OR WEEKS BEFORE IMPACT. ALTHOUGH DETECTION IN TIME TO DIVERT DANGEROUS ASTEROIDS IS LAUDABLE IT IS ALSO CURRENTLY UNAFFORDABLE AND ATLAS ADDRESSES THE INTENT OF THE MANDATE BY PROTECTING LIVES. ATLAS WILL AFFORD A YEARLY OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY A METEORITE BEFORE IT STRIKES THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE AND WILL PROVIDE MUCH BETTER STATISTICS ON THE POPULATION THAT DOES PASS CLOSE TO THE EARTH. ATLAS WILL DISCOVER LOW DELTA-V ASTEROIDS SUITABLE FOR A MANNED MISSION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SPIN AND SHAPE OF MANY ASTEROIDS MAY PROVE VALUABLE FOR FUTURE MISSIONS., NEO DISCOVERY AND CHARACTERIZATION WITH THE PAN-STARRS PS1 TELESCOPE. WE WILL USE THE PAN-STARRS PS1 TELESCOPE SYSTEM TO RAPIDLY SURVEY LARGE AREAS O, Collaborative Research: A Multi-Wavelength Observational and Theoretical Study of the Fastest Evolving Stellar Explosions, Exploring & Exploiting the Dynamic Optical Sky, G290545188, G2945741187, G2996733501, G3161924517, NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI Institute), Queen's University Belfast Astronomy Observation and Theory Consolidated Grant 2020-2023, The Progenitors and Explosions of Type Ia Supernovae and Exotic Transients, G3485079120, ZWICKY TRANSIENT FACILITY, THE ASTEROID TERRESTRIAL-IMPACT LAST ALERT SYSTEM (ATLAS) WAS AWARDED A 5 YEAR GRANT BY NASA NEOO IN 2013 TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE WIDE FIELD TELESCOPES THAT ARE CAPABLE OF SCANNING THE ENTIRE SKY EACH NIGHT TO MAGNITUDE 20. THE PARTICULAR STRENGTH OF ATLAS IS TO BE COMPLEMENTARY TO LARGER TELESCOPES SUCH AS PAN-STARRS AND CATALINA - ATLAS COVERS MUCH MORE AREA EACH NIGHT TO A SHALLOWER DEPTH. ATLAS IS DESIGNED TO BE AN "EARLY WARNING" SYSTEM THAT WILL PROVIDE THREE WEEKS' NOTICE OF MOST 140M ASTEROIDS OR COMETS ON TRACK TO HIT THE EARTH AND A WEEK'S NOTICE FOR MOST 50M ASTEROIDS. WE HAVE COMPLETED TWO ATLAS UNITS AND INSTALLED THEM ON HALEAKALA AND MAUNA LOA IN HAWAII. THE TELESCOPES OPERATE COMPLETELY ROBOTICALLY EACH NIGHT AND THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT THE DATA ARE REDUCED IN REAL-TIME ON EACH SUMMIT AND ANALYZED FOR CANDIDATE NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS. IN THE MORNING A HUMAN REVIEWER VERIFIES THE NEW ASTEROIDS IN THE NIGHTLY PROCESSING AND SUBMITS ASTROMETRY TO THE IAU MINOR PLANET CENTER. WE OBSERVE ABOUT HALF THE VISIBLE SKY EACH NIGHT FIVE TIMES WITH THE TWO-TELESCOPE SYSTEM BUT AT REDUCED SENSITIVITY DUE TO IMPROPERLY FIGURED SCHMIDT CORRECTORS ON THE TELESCOPES. REPLACEMENT LENSES FROM A DIFFERENT VENDOR ARE EXPECTED TO BE INSTALLED IN APRIL 2017 IMPROVING THE SENSITIVITY OF THE SYSTEM FROM M~19 TO THE DESIGNED CAPABILITY OF M~20 AND INCREASING THE DISCOVERY RATE BY MORE THAN 5X. TO DATE IN EARLY 2017 ATLAS HAS DISCOVERED 34 NEAS AND 5 PHAS SINCE START OF OPERATIONS. EXCEPT FOR DELAYS DUE TO THE SCHMIDT CORRECTORS ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF THE BUILD CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONING OF BOTH THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PROJECTS HAVE BEEN ON-TIME AND ON-BUDGET. WE ARE PROPOSING TO BUILD TWO MORE IDENTICAL "ATLAS UNITS" AND DEPLOY THEM AT THE BEST SITES POSSIBLE. WE EXPECT THAT THESE SITES WILL BE SAAO IN SOUTH AFRICA AND CHILE BUT WE WILL PERFORM A COMPETITIVE SEARCH FOR ALTERNATE SITES ONCE THE PROPOSAL IS FUNDED. BECAUSE OF THE DIVERSITY IN LATITUDE LONGITUDE AND WEATHER THESE TWO ADDITIONAL UNITS SHOULD DOUBLE THE ATLAS DISCOVERY RATE OF THE MOST PERNICIOUS PHAS - THE 20-50M ASTEROIDS THAT PASS VERY CLOSE TO THE EARTH AND ARE ONLY VISIBLE TO ANY TELESCOPE FOR A SHORT TIME., G3843633368, G4084488544, HEROIC - Hop Enabled Realtime Observatory Information and Coordination, G4446457410, G4474636675, G4576554894, Frameworks: SCiMMA: Real-time Orchestration of Multi-Messenger Astrophysical Observations, UK Involvement in LSST: Phase B (QUB component), G4797677415, Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), THE POWER OF THE PAN-STARRS1 TELESCOPE TO DISCOVER NEOS HAS BEEN AMPLY DEMONSTRATED WITH THE CURRENT 11% DEDICATED ALLOCATION OF OBSERVING TIME SUPPO, Collaborative Research: The Multimessenger Treasure TROVE, a Tool for Rapid Object Vetting and Examination, Next-Generation Supernova Cosmology, G6120759733, G6122414599, G6131798161, G6171144280, G618131832, G6303308287, G6389653479, G6549972864, A NEO SEARCH PROGRAM USING THE PAN-STARRS PS1 TELESCOPETHE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO USE T, G6900289228, G6954859447, G7116472364, G7187964967, G7258890752, G7265250500, G7339468730, CAREER: Understanding the Nature of Dark Energy with the Young Supernova Experiment and the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, G7672380949, G7674266563, G7768108933, Pan-STARRS1: Operations; Public Data Release; Education and Outreach, G833430883, G8380168758, THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO SIGNIFICANTLY UPGRADE THE PAN-STARRS TELESCOPE SYSTEM ON HALEAKALA, MAUI BY COMPLETING THE INSTRUMENTATION AND C, CAREER: A Holistic Study of Compact-Object Mergers across the Electromagnetic Spectrum, WE PROPOSE TO CONTINUE OUR SURVEY TO DISCOVER NEAR EARTH OBJECTS (NEOS) WITH THE PAN-STARRS SYSTEM EXPANDED TO INCLUDE THE PAN-STARRS2 OBSERVATORY (PS2) TOGETHER WITH THE PAN-STARRS1 OBSERVATORY (PS1). SINCE THE START OF DEDICATED USE OF PAN- STARRS FOR NEO DISCOVERY IN SPRING OF 2014 PS1 HAS DISCOVERED OVER 40% OF ALL NEOS AND OVER 50% OF THE LARGER NEOS AND POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS ASTEROIDS. PS1 IS ALSO THE LEADING DISCOVERY TELESCOPE FOR NEOS LARGER THAN 1 KM IN DIAMETER. WITH PS2 WE WILL AT LEAST DOUBLE OUR RAW SURVEY POWER. THE PAN-STARRS2 OBSERVATORY IS COMPLETE AND WE EXPECT TO COMPLETE ITS CAMERA (GPC2) SOON AND ADD SCIENCE OPERATIONS WITH PS2 TO THE ONGOING PS1 SURVEY. PS2 WILL BE IN FULL SCIENCE OPERATIONS BY THE START OF THE PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE OF THIS PROPOSAL. THE PS2 OPTICS ARE SUPERIOR TO THOSE OF PS1 AND WE HAVE ELIMINATED THE CAUSE OF CORRELATED READ NOISE THAT AFFLICTS FAINT OBJECTS IN THE CAMERA ON PS1. THUS WE EXPECT PS2 TO BE SLIGHTLY SUPERIOR TO PS1 IN DISCOVERING NEOS. THE PAN-STARRS SYSTEM WITH BOTH PS1 AND PS2 WILL CHANGE THE LANDSCAPE OF NEO DISCOVERY. WE CAN DOUBLE THE AREA SURVEYED OR PERFORM SELF FOLLOW-UP OBSERVATIONS WHICH WILL SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASE THE NUMBER OF OBJECTS LOST DUE TO AN ABSENCE OF FOLLOW-UP. MORE SELF-FOLLOW-UP WILL ALSO AVOID BIASES INTRODUCED BY THE DIGEST SCORE AND PROVIDE A MORE SYSTEMATIC SURVEY. WE WILL INVESTIGATE WIDE AREA SURVEY STRATEGIES RANGING BETWEEN THESE TWO EXTREMES TO OPTIMIZE FOR THE MOST COMPLETE NEO SURVEY AND TO REDUCE LOSSES OF RARE OR CAMOUFLAGED NEOS THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER-SAMPLING. IN ADDITION TO BRINGING THE SURVEY POWER OF PS2 ON LINE WE HAVE IDENTIFIED PROMISING AVENUES WHERE WE CAN IMPROVE OUR DISCOVERY RATE BY ADVANCES IN SOFTWARE INCLUDING IMPROVED DE-TRENDING ASTROMETRY OBJECT DETECTION IMAGE SUBTRACTION AND MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES. FINALLY WE HAVE AN EXPERIENCED TEAM WITH A PROVEN RECORD OF SUCCESS.
OpenAlex ID: W7222998958