THEORETICAL LIGHT CURVES FOR THE TYPE-IC SUPERNOVA SN-1994I

SN 1994I in M51 has provided light curves in various wavelength bands allowing a distinction between models of Type Ic supernovae. We presen t bolometric and monochromatic light curves of exploding C+O stars tha t form from similar to 13-15 M(.) stars through the losses of the H-ri ch and He envelopes in close binary systems. The slopes of the calcula ted light curves are sensitive to the models and found to be in excell ent agreement with the observed light curves for the 0.9 M(.) ejecta m odel. A high interstellar reddening (A(v) approximate to 1.4 mag) is r equired. From the light curve fits, a distance modulus of 29.2 +/- 0.3 mag is derived for M51. The ejected Ni-56 mass is found to be 0.07(-0 .025)(+0.035) M(.). Possibilities to observe gamma-rays from SN 1994I with CGRO are discussed.