2026ApJ..1000..178K

Producing stable ⁵⁸Ni in Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) requires sufficiently high-density conditions that are not predicted for all origin scenarios, so examining the distribution of ⁵⁸Ni using the near-infrared (NIR) [Ni II] 1.939 μm line may observationally distinguish between possible progenitors and explosion mechanisms. We present 79 telluric-corrected NIR spectra of 22 low-redshift SNe Ia from the Carnegie Supernova Project-II, ranging from +50 to +505 days, including 31 previously unpublished spectra. We introduce the Gaussian Peak Ratio, a detection parameter that confirms the presence of the NIR [Ni II] 1.939 μm line in eight SNe in our sample. Nondetections occur at earlier phases (≤+100 days) when the NIR Ni line has not emerged yet or in low signal-to-noise spectra, yielding inconclusive results. Subluminous 86G-like SNe Ia show the earliest NIR Ni features around ∼+50 days, whereas normal-bright SNe Ia do not exhibit NIR Ni until ∼+150 days. NIR Ni features detected in our sample have low peak velocities (v ∼ 1200 km s^–1) and narrow line widths (≤3500 km s^–1), indicating stable ⁵⁸Ni is centrally located. This implies high-density burning conditions in the innermost regions of SNe Ia and could be due to higher mass progenitors (i.e., near-M_ch). NIR spectra of the nearly two dozen SNe Ia in our sample are compared to various model predictions and paired with early-time properties to identify ideal observation windows for future SNe Ia discovered by upcoming surveys with Rubin-LSST or the Roman Space Telescope.