Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Originally published in Science Express on 30 November 2006
Science 12 January 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5809, pp. 212 - 214
DOI: 10.1126/science.1121656
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Spectropolarimetric Diagnostics of Thermonuclear Supernova Explosions

Lifan Wang,1,2* Dietrich Baade,3 Ferdinando Patat3

Even at extragalactic distances, the shape of supernova ejecta can be effectively diagnosed by spectropolarimetry. We present results for 17 type Ia supernovae that allow a statistical study of the correlation among the geometric structures and other observable parameters of type Ia supernovae. These observations suggest that type Ia supernova ejecta typically consist of a smooth, central, iron-rich core and an outer layer with chemical asymmetries. The degree of this peripheral asphericity is correlated with the light-curve decline rate of type Ia supernovae. These results lend strong support to delayed-detonation models of type Ia supernovae.

1 Physics Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843–4242, USA.
2 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
3 European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching, Germany.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: wang{at}physics.tamu.edu

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)