Hubble Space Telescope images of the light echo around SN1991T

Session 6 - Novae and Supernovae.
Display session, Monday, June 08
Atlas Ballroom,

[6.07] Hubble Space Telescope images of the light echo around SN1991T

F. R. Boffi, W. B. Sparks (STScI), D. Branch (U. Oklahoma), M. Della Valle (U. Padova), D. Macchetto, N. Panagia (STScI/ESA)

Light echoes of supernovae may provide a valuable geometric method to measure extragalactic distances (Sparks 1994). A light echo of the Type Ia SN 1991T was revealed by ground--based observations made by Schmidt et al. (1994). We present high spatial resolution imaging of SN 1991T collected with the Faint Object Camera and the Wide Field Planetary Camera-2 on board the HST. FOC images obtained in December, 1996 and in December, 1997 show an extended patch of light at the position of SN 1991T, with U \sim 21. The magnitude of such an object is roughly constant at both epochs, although the detailed structures change. We are currently assessing the utility of this echo for a distance measurement.

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