Supernovae and their host galaxies - V. The vertical distribution of
  supernovae in disc galaxies
  We present an analysis of the height distributions of the different types of
supernovae (SNe) from the plane of their host galaxies. We use a well-defined
sample of 102 nearby SNe appeared inside high-inclined (i > 85 deg),
morphologically non-disturbed S0-Sd host galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey. For the first time, we show that in all the subsamples of spirals, the
vertical distribution of core-collapse (CC) SNe is about twice closer to the
plane of host disc than the distribution of SNe Ia. In Sb-Sc hosts, the
exponential scale height of CC SNe is consistent with those of the younger
stellar population in the Milky Way (MW) thin disc, while the scale height of
SNe Ia is consistent with those of the old population in the MW thick disc. We
show that the ratio of scale lengths to scale heights of the distribution of CC
SNe is consistent with those of the resolved young stars with ages from ~ 10
Myr up to ~ 100 Myr in nearby edge-on galaxies and the unresolved stellar
population of extragalactic thin discs. The corresponding ratio for SNe Ia is
consistent with the same ratios of the two populations of resolved stars with
ages from a few 100 Myr up to a few Gyr and from a few Gyr up to ~ 10 Gyr, as
well as with the unresolved population of the thick disc. These results can be
explained considering the age-scale height relation of the distribution of
stellar population and the mean age difference between Type Ia and CC SNe
progenitors.
