GeminiFocus April 2013 | Page 6

20-30 percent of SNe Ia harbor unprocessed carbon. Meanwhile, there had been no detection of carbon in the near-infrared spectra of a normal SN Ia. The issue appeared settled. It was up to the theorists to find the right combination white dwarf binary systems and explosion mechanism to reproduce the observed rate of carbon detection. Figure 3. Time evolution of SN Ia near-infrared magnesium velocity. The magnesium velocity of the GNIRS SN 2011fe spectra underw