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Description
The host galaxies of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been claimed to have experienced a recent inflow of gas from the intergalactic medium. This is because their atomic gas distribution is not centred on their optical emission and because they are deficient in molecular gas given their high star-formation rates. Similar studies have not been conducted for host galaxies of relativistic supernovae (SNe), which may have similar progenitors. The potential similarity of the powering mechanisms of relativistic SNe and GRBs allowed us to make a prediction that relativistic SNe are born in environments similar to those of GRBs, i.e. rich in atomic gas. Here we embark on testing this hypothesis by analysing the properties of the host galaxy NGC 3278 of the relativistic SN 2009bb. This is the first time the atomic gas properties of a relativistic SN host is analysed and the first time resolved 21cm hydrogen line (HI) information is provided for a host of a SN of any type. We obtained radio observations with Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) covering HI line; and optical integral field unit spectroscopy observations with Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Moreover, we analysed archival carbon monoxide (CO) and broad-band data for this galaxy. The atomic gas distribution of NGC3278 is not centred on the optical galaxy centre, but instead around a third of atomic gas resides in the region close to the SN position. This galaxy has a few times lower atomic and molecular gas masses than predicted from its star formation rate (SFR). Its specific star formation rate (sSFR=SFR/M*) is ~2-3 times higher than the main-sequence value, placing it at the higher end of the main sequence towards starburst galaxies. SN 2009bb exploded close to the region with the highest SFR density and the lowest age, as evident from high Halpha EW, corresponding to the age of the stellar population of ~5.5Myr. Assuming this timescale was the lifetime of the progenitor star, its initial mass would have been close to ~36M_{sun}_. As for GRB hosts, the gas properties of NGC3278 are consistent with a recent inflow of gas from the intergalactic medium, which explains the concentration of atomic gas close to the SN position and the enhanced SFR. Super-solar metallicity at the position of the SN (unlike for most of GRBs) may mean that relativistic explosions signal a recent inflow of gas (and subsequent star-formation), and their type (GRBs or SNe) is determined by either i) the metallicity of the inflowing gas (metal-poor gas results in a GRB explosion and metal-rich gas in a relativistic SN explosion without an accompanying GRB), or ii) by the efficiency of gas mixing (efficient mixing for SN hosts leading to quick disappearance of metal-poor regions), or iii) by the type of the galaxy (more metal-rich galaxies would result in only a small fraction of star-formation to be fuelled by metal-poor gas).
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