Seminar @ DF-AS - F. Mannucci - What are the progenitors of type Ia Supernovae?

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02/17/2016 - 11:30
Event until: 
02/17/2016 - 12:30
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Published on: 
02/15/2016
Campus: 
Trieste

Type-Ia supernovae are important distance indicators, element factories, cosmic-ray accelerators, kinetic-energy sources in galaxy evolution, and endpoints of stellar binary evolution. It has long been clear that a SN Ia must be the runaway thermonuclear explosion of a degenerate carbon-oxygen stellar core, most likely a white dwarf (WD). However, the specific progenitor systems and the processes that lead to ignition have not been identified. Two broad classes of progenitor binary systems have long been considered: single-degenerate (SD), in which a WD gains mass from a non-degenerate star; and double-degenerate (DD), involving the merger of two WDs. New theoretical work has enriched these possibilities with some interesting updates and variants. I'll present significant recent observational progress in addressing the progenitor problem. Two recent, nearby, and well-studied events have been particularly revealing. The observational results are not yet conclusive, but they start to point toward one specific direction.

Venue: 

Villa Bazzoni

Contacts: 
Pierluigi Monaco
Last update: 02-15-2016 - 10:23
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