Carbon Detection in Early-Time Optical Spectra of Type Ia Supernovae

Understand

While O is often seen in spectra of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) as both unburned fuel and a product of C burning, C is only occasionally seen at the earliest times, and it represents the most direct way of investigating primordial white dwarf material and its relation to SN Ia explosion scenarios and mechanisms.

• In this paper, we search for C absorption features in 188 optical spectra of 144 low-redshift (z < 0.1) SNe Ia with ages <3.6 d after maximum brightness.
• These data were obtained as part of the Berkeley SN Ia Program (BSNIP; Silverman et al.
• 2012) and represent the largest set of SNe Ia in which C has ever been searched.