The mystery of photometric twins DES17X1boj and DES16E2bjy Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • ABSTRACT We present an analysis of DES17X1boj and DES16E2bjy, two peculiar transients discovered by the Dark Energy Survey (DES). They exhibit nearly identical double-peaked light curves that reach very different maximum luminosities (Mr = 15.4 and 17.9, respectively). The light-curve evolution of these events is highly atypical and has not been reported before. The transients are found in different host environments: DES17X1boj was found near the nucleus of a spiral galaxy, while DES16E2bjy is located in the outskirts of a passive red galaxy. Early photometric data are well fitted with a blackbody and the resulting moderate photospheric expansion velocities (1800 kms1 for DES17X1boj and 4800 kms1 for DES16E2bjy) suggest an explosive or eruptive origin. Additionally, a feature identified as high-velocity Caii absorption ($v$ 9400kms1) in the near-peak spectrum of DES17X1boj may imply that it is a supernova. While similar light-curve evolution suggests a similar physical origin for these two transients, we are not able to identify or characterize the progenitors.

published proceedings

  • MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

altmetric score

  • 11.78

author list (cited authors)

  • Pursiainen, M., Gutierrez, C. P., Wiseman, P., Childress, M., Smith, M., Frohmaier, C., ... Wester, W.

citation count

  • 4

complete list of authors

  • Pursiainen, M||Gutierrez, CP||Wiseman, P||Childress, M||Smith, M||Frohmaier, C||Angus, C||Segura, N Castro||Kelsey, L||Sullivan, M||Galbany, L||Nugent, P||Bassett, BA||Brout, D||Carollo, D||D'Andrea, CB||Davis, TM||Foley, RJ||Grayling, M||Hinton, SR||Inserra, C||Kessler, R||Lewis, GF||Lidman, C||Macaulay, E||March, M||Moller, A||Muller, T||Scolnic, D||Sommer, NE||Swann, E||Thomas, BP||Tucker, BE||Vincenzi, M||Abbott, TMC||Allam, S||Annis, J||Avila, S||Bertin, E||Brooks, D||Buckley-Geer, E||Burke, DL||Carnero Rosell, A||Kind, M Carrasco||da Costa, LN||De Vicente, J||Desai, S||Diehl, HT||Doel, P||Eifler, TF||Everett, S||Flaugher, B||Frieman, J||Garcia-Bellido, J||Gaztanaga, E||Gerdes, DW||Gruen, D||Gruendl, RA||Gschwend, J||Gutierrez, G||Hollowood, DL||Honscheid, K||James, DJ||Kim, AG||Krause, E||Kuehn, K||Maia, MAG||Marshall, JL||Menanteau, F||Miquel, R||Ogando, RLC||Palmese, A||Paz-Chinchon, F||Plazas, AA||Roodman, A||Sanchez, E||Scarpine, V||Schubnell, M||Serrano, S||Sevilla-Noarbe, I||Suchyta, E||Swanson, MEC||Tarle, G||Wester, W

publication date

  • June 2020