THE SPATIAL-DISTRIBUTION OF SUPERNOVAE IN PAIRED AND INTERACTING GALAXIES

In order to investigate the location of supernovae (SNe) in paired and interacting galaxies, the 54 supernovae discovered up to May 1993 in 14 Isolated Pairs of Galaxies and in 32 Interacting Systems were taken as a sample and studied. The whole sample of SNe, as well as a subsam ple formed of type II and Ib SNe, whose progenitors are young massive stars, do not appear in any one particular direction with respect to t he companion. In paired and interacting galaxies, the radial distribut ion of type Ib and II SNe peaks more toward the galaxy centers than it does in isolated galaxies, indicating an enhanced Star Formation Rate (SFR) around the nuclei and in the inner disks. The distribution of S NIa appear similar in both samples, confirming that their progenitors are not the same as those of SNII and Ib. The SN rates are related to galaxy luminosity and, as expected, the discovery of SNe is twice more frequent in the brighter galaxy of the pair than in fainter ones. We did not find any relation between the locations of SNe in parent galax ies, the total Star Formation activity and the kinematics of paired an d interacting galaxies.