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Signature Of Electron Capture In Iron‐Rich Ejecta Of Sn 2003du, Peter Hoflich, Christopher L. Gerardy, Ken-Ichi Nomoto, Kentaro Motohara, Robert A. Fesen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Late-time near-infrared and optical spectra of the normal-bright Type Ia supernova 2003du about 300 days after the explosion are presented. At this late epoch, the emission profiles of well-isolated [Fe II] lines (in particular that of the strong 1.644 μm feature) trace out the global kinematic distribution of radioactive material in the expanding supernova ejecta. In SN 2003du, the 1.644 μm [Fe II] line seems to show a flat-topped profile, indicative of a thick but hollow-centered expanding shell, rather than a strongly peaked profile that would be expected from a "center-filled" distribution. Based on detailed models for exploding Chandrasekhar-mass white …