Stellar evolution models predict the existence of hybrid white dwarfs (WDs) with a carbon-oxygen core surrounded by an oxygen-neon mantle. Being born with masses ~1.1 Msun, hybrid WDs in a binary system may easily approach the Chandrasekhar mass (MCh) by accretion and give rise to a thermonuclear explosion. In this paper, we investigate an off-centre deflagration in a near-MCh hybrid WD under the assumption that nuclear burning only occurs in carbon-rich material. Performing hydrodynamics simulations of the explosion and detailed nucleosynthesis post-processing calculations, we find that only 0.014 Msun of material is ejected while the remainder of the mass stays bound. The ejecta consist predominantly of iron-group elements, O, C, Si and S.

We also calculate synthetic observables for our model and find reasonable agreement with the faint Type Iax SN 2008ha. This shows for the first time that deflagrations in near-MCh WDs can in principle explain the observed diversity of Type Iax supernovae. Leaving behind a near-MCh bound remnant opens the possibility for recurrent explosions or a subsequent accretion-induced collapse in faint Type Iax SNe, if further accretion episodes occur.

Paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 450, Issue 3, p.3045-3053, full text available at http://de.arxiv.org/abs/1503.04292