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SUMMARY:What are the progenitors of type Ia Supernovae? - Filippo Mannucci
  (Arcetri Observatory)
DTSTART:20141021T153000Z
DTEND:20141021T163000Z
UID:TALK54605@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:David Titterington
DESCRIPTION:Type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are important distance indicators\
 , element factories\, cosmic-ray accelerators\, kinetic-energy sources in 
 galaxy evolution\, and endpoints of stellar binary evolution.  It has long
  been clear that a SN Ia must ben the runaway thermonuclear explosion of a
  degenerate carbon-oxygen stellar core\, most likely a white dwarf (WD).  
 However\, the specific progenitor systems of SNe Ia\, and the processes th
 at lead to their ignition\, have not been identified.  Two broad classes o
 f progenitor binary systems have long been considered: single-degenerate (
 SD)\, in which a WD gains mass from a non-degenerate star\; and double-deg
 enerate (DD)\, involving the merger of two WDs. New theoretical work\, has
  enriched these possibilities with some interesting updates and variants. 
 I’ll present significant recent observational progress in addressing the
  progenitor problem.  The recent nearby and well-studied event\, SN 2011fe
 \, has been particularly revealing.  The observational results are not yet
  conclusive\, but they start to point toward one specific direction.\n
LOCATION:Sackler Lecture Theatre\, Institute of Astronomy
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