SN1998bw in ESO 184-G82

WARNING: this page is provisonal, and for the time being contains only some information about the current status. Check it from time to time. I will be updating this site very soon. You will find here data, pubblications and links on SN1998bw.

SN1998bw was discovered by Galama et al. in the BeppoSAX WFC error box of GRB 980425, by comparing two frames taken at the ESO-NTT telescope on Apr. 28.4 and May 1.3 UT, close to a spiral arm of the barred galaxy ESO 184-G82. Extensive spectroscopic and photometric observations, both in the optical and in the near IR, started at ESO-La Silla soon after the discovery, showing that this object was dramatically different from all known SNe. A few days after its detection, the object was classified as a SN of type Ib and later as a peculiar Ic, due to a complete absence of H lines, no clear HeI detection and the weakness of the SiII 6355A, which is the characterizing feature of type Ia. The peculiar spectroscopic behavior and the possible association with GRB 980425 made this SN extremely interesting for the understanding of both SNe and Gamma Ray Bursts and therefore triggered an intense follow-up in several observatories. At ESO this was achieved by electing this SN a target of opportunity, which allowed us to use most of the La Silla facilities (ESO-Dutch 0.9m, ESO-1.5+B&C, ESO-Danish 1.54+DFOSC, ESO-MPI 2.2m+IRAC2, ESO-3.6m+EFOSC2 and ESO-NTT+EMMI&SOFI).

Pubblications