An excess of mid-infrared emission from the type Iax SN 2014dt

Abstract

Supernovae Type Iax ( SNe Iax ) are less energetic and less luminous than typical thermonuclear explosions. A suggested explanation for the observed characteristics of this subclass is a binary progenitor system consisting of a CO white dwarf primary accreting from a helium star companion. A single-degenerate explosion channel might be expected to result in a dense circumstellar medium ( CSM ) , although no evidence for such a CSM has yet been observed for this subclass. Here we present recent Spitzer

observations of the SN Iax 2014dt obtained by the SPIRITS program nearly one year post-explosion that reveal a strong mid-IR excess over the expected fl uxes of more normal SNe Ia. This excess is consistent with 10 − 5 M

of newly formed dust, which would be the fi rst time that newly formed dust has been observed to form in a Type Ia. The excess, however, is also consistent with a dusty CSM that was likely formed in pre-explosion mass-loss, thereby suggesting a single degenerate progenitor system. Compared to other SNe Ia that show signi fi cant shock interaction ( SNe Ia-CSM ) and interacting core- collapse events ( SNe IIn ) , this dust shell in SN 2014dt is less massive. We consider the implications that such a pre-existing dust shell has for the progenitor system, including a binary system with a mass donor that is a red giant, a red supergiant, or an asymptotic giant branch star.