Supernova 2002hi
ATel #116; D. Pooley and W. H. G. Lewin (MIT)
on 17 Jan 2003; 21:05 UT
Credential Certification: dave pooley (dave@mit.edu)
Subjects: X-ray, Supernovae
D. Pooley and W. H. G. Lewin, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, on behalf of a larger collaboration, report the detection
of X-ray emission at the position of the type-IIn supernova (SN)
2002hi (IAUC 8006 ) with the Chandra X-ray observatory: An ACIS-S3
observation of 10 ks was made on Dec. 10.73. In the 0.5-10 keV
range, we searched a 2x2 pixel region (approx. 1" by 1") around the
reported position of the SN and detected 2 counts. Given an average
background of 0.008 (+/- 10%) counts/pixel (based on a circular
region of radius 30" around our search area), the binomial
distribution gives a chance probability of the occurrence of 2 or
more counts of 0.031%-0.046%. Based on the host galaxy's redshift of
0.061 (IAUC 8006 ) and a Hubble constant of 65 km/s/Mpc, a rough
estimate for the absorbed X-ray luminosity of the SN is 2 x 10^{42}
erg/s. It is unknown whether the host galaxy of SN 2002hi has an
active nucleus, and, because of the proximity of the SN to the
nucleus (within 1", IAUC 8006 ), we cannot exclude the possibility
that some or all of this X-ray emission is from an active nucleus.
About 1% of all galaxies have an active nucleus.
