Supernova impostor

Short description: Stellar explosions that appear to be supernovae

NGC 3184 showing SN impostor SN 2010dn.[1]

Supernova impostors are stellar explosions that appear at first to be a supernova but do not destroy their progenitor stars. As such, they are a class of extra-powerful novae. They are also known as Type V supernovae, Eta Carinae analogs, and giant eruptions of luminous blue variables (LBV).[2]

## Contents

* 1 Appearance, origin and mass loss
* 2 Examples
* 3 See also
* 4 References

## Appearance, origin and mass loss

Supernova impostors appear as remarkably faint supernovae of spectral type IIn—which have hydrogen in their spectrum and narrow spectral lines that indicate relatively low gas speeds. These impostors exceed their pre-outburst states by several magnitudes, with typical peak absolute visual magnitudes of −11 to −14, making these outbursts as bright as the most luminous stars. The trigger mechanism of these outbursts remains unexplained, though it is thought to be caused by violating the classical Eddington luminosity limit, initiating severe mass loss. If the ratio of radiated energy to kinetic energy is near unity, as in Eta Carinae, then we might expect an ejected mass of about 0.16 solar masses.

## Examples

Possible examples of supernova impostors include the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae, P Cygni, SN 1961V,[3] SN 1954J, SN 1997bs, SN 2008S in NGC 6946, and SN 2010dn[1] where detections of the surviving progenitor stars are claimed.

One supernova impostor that made news after the fact was the one observed on October 20, 2004, in the galaxy UGC 4904 by Japanese amateur astronomer Kōichi Itagaki. This LBV star exploded just two years later, on October 11, 2006, as supernova SN 2006jc.[4]

## See also

* Failed supernova

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Smith, Nathan; Weidong, Li; Silverman, Jeffrey; Ganeshalingam, Mo (2011). "Luminous Blue Variable eruptions and related transients: Diversity of progenitors and outburst properties". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 415 (1): 773–810. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18763.x. Bibcode: 2011MNRAS.415..773S.
2. ↑ Smith, Nathan et al. (2009). "SN 2008S: A Cool Super-Eddington Wind in a Supernova Impostor". Astrophysical Journal Letters 697 (1): L49–L53. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/697/1/L49. Bibcode: 2009ApJ...697L..49S.
3. ↑ Kochanek, C.S.; Szczygiel, D.M.; Stanek, K.Z. (2010). "The Supernova Impostor Impostor SN 1961V: Spitzer Shows That Zwicky Was Right (Again)". The Astrophysical Journal 737 (2): 76. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/737/2/76. Bibcode: 2011ApJ...737...76K.
4. ↑ "NASA – Supernova Imposter Goes Supernova". Nasa.gov. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/supernova_imposter.html. Retrieved 2010-01-13.

* v
* t
* e

Supernovae

Classes|

* Type Ia
* Type Ib and Ic
* Type II (IIP, IIL, IIn, and IIb)
* Hypernova
* Superluminous
* Pair-instability

Physics of|

* Calcium-rich
* Carbon detonation
* Foe
* Near-Earth
* Phillips relationship
* Nucleosynthesis
* P-process
* R-process
* Neutrinos

Related|

* Imposter
* pulsational pair-instability
* Failed
* Gamma-ray burst
* Kilonova
* Luminous red nova
* Nova
* Pulsar kick
* Quark-nova
* Symbiotic nova

Progenitors|

* Hypergiant
* yellow
* Luminous blue variable
* Supergiant
* blue
* red
* yellow
* White dwarf
* related links
* Wolf–Rayet star

Remnants|

* Supernova remnant
* Pulsar wind nebula
* Neutron star
* pulsar
* magnetar
* related links
* Stellar black hole
* related links
* Compact star
* quark star
* exotic star
* Zombie star
* Local Bubble
* Superbubble
* Orion–Eridanus

Discovery|

* Guest star
* History of supernova observation
* Timeline of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and supernovae

Lists|

* Candidates
* Notable
* Massive stars
* Most distant
* Remnants
* In fiction

Notable|

* Barnard's Loop
* Cassiopeia A
* Crab
* Crab Nebula
* iPTF14hls
* Tycho's
* Kepler's
* SN 1987A
* SN 185
* SN 1006
* SN 2003fg
* Remnant G1.9+0.3
* SN 2007bi
* SN 2011fe
* SN 2014J
* SN Refsdal
* Vela Remnant

Research|

* ASAS-SN
* Calán/Tololo Survey
* High-Z Supernova Search Team
* Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope
* Monte Agliale Supernovae and Asteroid Survey
* Nearby Supernova Factory
* Sloan Supernova Survey
* Supernova/Acceleration Probe
* Supernova Cosmology Project
* SuperNova Early Warning System
* Supernova Legacy Survey
* Texas Supernova Search

* Book:Supernovae
* Category:Supernovae
* Commons:Supernovae

* v
* t
* e

Stars

Formation|

* Accretion
* Molecular cloud
* Bok globule
* Young stellar object
* Protostar
* Pre-main-sequence
* Herbig Ae/Be
* T Tauri
* FU Orionis
* Herbig–Haro object
* Hayashi track
* Henyey track

Evolution|

* Main sequence
* Red-giant branch
* Horizontal branch
* Red clump
* Asymptotic giant branch
* Blue loop
* Protoplanetary nebula
* Planetary nebula
* PG1159
* Dredge-up
* Instability strip
* Luminous blue variable
* Blue straggler
* Stellar population
* Supernova
* Superluminous supernova / Hypernova

Spectral
classification|

* Early
* Late
* Main sequence
* O
* B
* A
* F
* G
* K
* M
* Brown dwarf
* WR
* OB
* Subdwarf
* O
* B
* Subgiant
* Giant
* Blue
* Red
* Yellow
* Bright giant
* Supergiant
* Blue
* Red
* Yellow
* Hypergiant
* Yellow
* Carbon
* S
* CN
* CH
* White dwarf
* Chemically peculiar
* Am
* Ap/Bp
* HgMn
* Helium-weak
* Barium
* Extreme helium
* Lambda Boötis
* Lead
* Technetium
* Be
* Shell
* B[e]

Remnants|

* White dwarf
* Helium planet
* Black dwarf
* Neutron
* Radio-quiet
* Pulsar
* Binary
* X-ray
* Magnetar
* Stellar black hole
* X-ray binary
* Burster

Hypothetical|

* Blue dwarf
* Green
* Black dwarf
* Exotic
* Boson
* Electroweak
* Strange
* Preon
* Planck
* Dark
* Dark-energy
* Quark
* Q
* Black
* Gravastar
* Frozen
* Quasi-star
* Thorne–Żytkow object
* Iron
* Blitzar

Stellar
nucleosynthesis|

* Deuterium burning
* Lithium burning
* Proton–proton chain
* CNO cycle
* Helium flash
* Triple-alpha process
* Alpha process
* Carbon burning
* Neon burning
* Oxygen burning
* Silicon burning
* S-process
* R-process
* Fusor
* Nova
* Symbiotic
* Remnant
* Luminous red nova

Structure|

* Core
* Convection zone
* Microturbulence
* Oscillations
* Radiation zone
* Atmosphere
* Photosphere
* Starspot
* Chromosphere
* Corona
* Stellar wind
* Bubble
* Bipolar outflow
* Accretion disk
* Asteroseismology
* Helioseismology
* Eddington luminosity
* Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism

Properties|

* Designation
* Dynamics
* Effective temperature
* Luminosity
* Kinematics
* Magnetic field
* Absolute magnitude
* Mass
* Metallicity
* Rotation
* Starlight
* Variable
* Photometric system
* Color index
* Hertzsprung–Russell diagram
* Color–color diagram

Star systems|

* Binary
* Contact
* Common envelope
* Eclipsing
* Symbiotic
* Multiple
* Cluster
* Open
* Globular
* Super
* Planetary system

Earth-centric
observations|

* Sun
* Solar System
* Sunlight
* Pole star
* Circumpolar
* Constellation
* Asterism
* Magnitude
* Apparent
* Extinction
* Photographic
* Radial velocity
* Proper motion
* Parallax
* Photometric-standard

Lists|

* Proper names
* Arabic
* Chinese
* Extremes
* Most massive
* Highest temperature
* Largest volume
* Smallest volume
* Brightest
* Historical
* Most luminous
* Nearest
* Nearest bright
* With exoplanets
* Brown dwarfs
* White dwarfs
* Milky Way novae
* Supernovae
* Candidates
* Remnants
* Planetary nebulae
* Timeline of stellar astronomy

Related articles|

* Substellar object
* Brown dwarf
* Sub-brown dwarf
* Planet
* Galactic year
* Galaxy
* Guest
* Gravity
* Intergalactic
* Starfield
* Tidal disruption event

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