Journal
NATURE
Volume 480, Issue 7377, Pages 348-350Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nature10646
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Funding
- NASA
- Carnegie-Princeton Fellowship
- US National Science Foundation
- Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund
- Sylvia and Jim Katzman Foundation
- Gary and Cynthia Bengier
- TABASGO Foundation
- Hilary Lipsitz
- American Museum of Natural History
- Royal Society
- W. M. Keck Foundation
- STFC [ST/H002456/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1009991] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences [1009987] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences [1009991] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1109174] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Office of Integrative Activities [0941742] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Office Of The Director [0941742] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/H002456/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Type Ia supernovae are thought to result from a thermonuclear explosion of an accreting white dwarf in a binary system(1,2), but little is known of the precise nature of the companion star and the physical properties of the progenitor system. There are two classes of models(1,3): double-degenerate (involving two white dwarfs in a close binary system(2,4)) and single-degenerate models(5,6). In the latter, the primary white dwarf accretes material from a secondary companion until conditions are such that carbon ignites, at a mass of 1.38 times the mass of the Sun. The type Ia supernova SN 2011fe was recently detected in a nearby galaxy(7). Here we report an analysis of archival images of the location of SN 2011fe. The luminosity of the progenitor system (especially the companion star) is 10-100 times fainter than previous limits on other type Ia supernova progenitor systems(8-10), allowing us to rule out luminous red giants and almost all helium stars as the mass-donating companion to the exploding white dwarf.
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