Illustration of the adjustments to the electron density in the adulterated model in order to mimic the influence of a ⁵⁶Ni blob – these configurations would be shells in a 1D context but correspond to a blob in our 2D hybrid model setup. The blob radial (electron-scattering) optical depth is equal to the difference in radial optical depth (bottom row panels) along a direction intersecting the blob and one that does not (see values in rightmost column of Table 1). The total radial electron scattering optical depth of the unadulterated model is 0.84. Each column represents one set of models that differ in the value of V_blob (left column;fixed δV_blob∕V_blob and N_e,fac), of N_e,fac (middle column; fixed V_blob and δV_blob), and of δV_blob (right column; fixed V_blob and N_e,fac). It should be noted that, in the central column, model nefac0p05-v4e3-dv1e3 represents a ⁵⁶Ni “hole,” where N_e is reduced relative to the unadulterated model (this model is discussed in the appendix); see text for details.