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T.R. Young, R. Thrall, T.A. Johnson, B. Thomson (U. North Dakota)
We present numerical simulations of supernova light curves as compared to two well-observed supernovae, SN 1999em and SN 1999gi. In this theoretical study, model progenitor stars are exploded in a 1-dimensional, radiation-hydrodynamical code and followed from explosion
to 400 days. Parameters that are determined by fitting the theoretical light curve to observational data are 1) the progenitor star radius, 2) ejected mass, 3) energy of explosion, 4) 56Ni mass and 4) 56Ni mixing through the ejecta. Both, SN 1999em and SN 1999gi show fainter than average plateaus and radioactive tails. Several models, both polytropes and numerically evolved stars, are used to compare to the observational data. Values for the 5 parameters of the best-fit models describing the progenitor and the explosion are presented. Both SN 1999em and SN 1999gi
show evidence of surprisingly low ejected mass considering the length of
the plateau, reaching almost 100 days in both cases. This might be attributed to a lower explosion energy and low 56Ni mass. \\This work is supported by NSF grant: ND EPSCoR 5477-1902.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.