Abstract
ABSTRACT Supernova (SN) rates serve as an important probe of star formation models and initial mass functions. Near-infrared seeing-limited ground-based surveys typically discover a factor of 3–10 fewer SNe than predicted from far-infrared luminosities owing to sensitivity limitations arising from both a variable point-spread function (PSF) and high dust extinction in the nuclear regions of star-forming galaxies. This inconsistency has potential implications for our understanding of star-formation rates and massive-star evolution, particularly at higher redshifts, where star-forming galaxies are more common. To resolve this inconsistency, a successful SN survey in the local universe must be conducted at longer wavelengths and with a space-based telescope, which has a stable PSF to reduce the necessity for any subtraction algorithms and thus residuals. Here, we report on a 2-yr Spitzer/IRAC 3.6 $\mu$m survey for dust-extinguished SNe in the nuclear regions of forty luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) within 200 Mpc. The asymmetric Spitzer PSF results in worse than expected subtraction residuals when implementing standard template subtraction. Forward-modelling techniques improve our sensitivity by several ∼1.5 mag. We report the detection of 9 SNe, five of which were not discovered by optical surveys. After adjusting our predicted rates to account for the sensitivity of our survey, we find that the number of detections is consistent with the models. While this search is none the less hampered by a difficult-to-model PSF and the relatively poor resolution of Spitzer, it will benefit from future missions, such as Roman and the James Webb Space Telescope, with higher resolution and more symmetric PSFs.
Highlights
The observed rate at which stars more massive than ∼ 8 M explode as core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) can be used to determine chemical evolution and feedback processes (Matteucci et al 2006; Scannapieco & Bildsten 2005), progenitor-mass distributions (Smith et al 2011), star-formation rates (Iben 1983; Mannucci et al 2007), and dust yields (Maiolino et al 2004a,b; Rho et al 2009)
SN 2013if was discovered by the Supernova UNmasked By Infra-Red Detection (SUNBIRD) project and had an associated near-IR light curve (Kool et al 2018)
We have presented a Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) MIR survey for dustextinguished SNe to resolve the discrepancy between theoretically predicted and optical/NIR observed core-collapse SN rates
Summary
The observed rate at which stars more massive than ∼ 8 M explode as core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) can be used to determine chemical evolution and feedback processes (Matteucci et al 2006; Scannapieco & Bildsten 2005), progenitor-mass distributions (Smith et al 2011), star-formation rates (Iben 1983; Mannucci et al 2007), and dust yields (Maiolino et al 2004a,b; Rho et al 2009). Given the intrinsic brightness of SNe, they serve as useful probes of the above characteristics at higher redshifts where other techniques. SN rates are useful probes, only if we understand the models linking the initial mass function (IMF), star-formation rates (SFRs), and SNe. For example, Mattila & Meikle (2001) derive the expected CCSN rate (CCSNr) as a function of a galaxy’s far-infrared (FIR) luminosity, LFIR = L (8−1000) μm (which is used as a proxy for star formation): CCSNr
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