Chandra Non-detection of X-ray Emission from PTF11kly

ATel #3602; John P. Hughes (Rutgers), Alicia Soderberg, and Pat Slane (Harvard/CfA)
on 29 Aug 2011; 00:28 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Supernovae
Credential Certification: John P. Hughes (jph@physics.rutgers.edu)

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We observed the field of PTF11kly (= SN2011fe; ATEL #3581) with Chandra beginning on 2011 Aug 27.44 UT for 49.1 ksec under our approved Director's Discretionary Time proposal. We do not detect an X-ray source at the optical SN position and place a limit on the count rate of 1.1e-4 cps (3 sigma, 0.5-8 keV band). Assuming a column density of nH=1.2e20 cm^-2 and power law with photon index, Gamma=2, this rate corresponds to an upper limit on the X-ray flux of F_X < 7.7e-16 erg/cm^2/s (0.3-8 keV). At the distance of M101 (6.4 Mpc; Shappee & Stanek 2011) this corresponds to an upper limit on the X-ray luminosity of L_X < 3.8e+36 erg/s; this is a factor of ~10 lower than the putative Swift/XRT detection of this SN (ATEL #3593) and consistent with the earlier reported upper limits (ATEL #3584). We thank the Chandra Director for approving this DDT observation and appreciate the rapid response of the Chandra Team in executing it.