Description
We present 2603 spectra of 462 nearby Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), including 2065 previously unpublished spectra, obtained during 1993-2008 through the Center for Astrophysics Supernova Program. There are on average eight spectra for each of the 313 SNe Ia with at least two spectra. Most of the spectra were obtained with the FAST spectrograph at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory 1.5m telescope and reduced in a consistent manner, making this data set well suited for studies of SN Ia spectroscopic diversity. Using additional data from the literature, we study the spectroscopic and photometric properties of SNe Ia as a function of spectroscopic class using the classification schemes of Branch et al. (2006PASP..118..560B) and Wang et al. (2009, Cat. J/ApJ/699/L139). The width-luminosity relation appears to be steeper for SNe Ia with broader lines, although the result is not statistically significant with the present sample. Based on the evolution of the characteristic SiII{lambda}6355 line, we propose improved methods for measuring velocity gradients, revealing a larger range than previously suspected, from ~0 to ~400km/s/day considering the instantaneous velocity decline rate at maximum light.
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