Possible Detection of the Progenitor of the Type II Supernova SN 2023ixf
Stellar evolution theory predicts multiple pathways to the explosive deaths of stars as supernovae. Locating and characterizing the progenitors of well-studied supernovae is important to constrain the theory and to justify and design future surveys to improve on progenitor detections. Here we report...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ace88b |
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| author | Joanne L Pledger Michael M Shara |
| author_facet | Joanne L Pledger Michael M Shara |
| author_sort | Joanne L Pledger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Stellar evolution theory predicts multiple pathways to the explosive deaths of stars as supernovae. Locating and characterizing the progenitors of well-studied supernovae is important to constrain the theory and to justify and design future surveys to improve on progenitor detections. Here we report the serendipitous preexplosion imaging, by the Hubble Space Telescope, of SN 2023ixf, one of the nearest extragalactic supernovae ever discovered, in the galaxy M101. The extremely red color and absolute magnitude ${M}_{{\rm{F}}814{\rm{W}}}=-{5.11}_{-0.47}^{+0.65}$ mag suggest that the progenitor was a red supergiant. Comparison with stellar evolutionary isochrones suggests it is within the relatively low initial mass range of ∼8–10 M _⊙ and that there is likely a lot of dust present at the supernova site. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:51:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a683b7434bc54b9f8831d8ba8ae0574b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:51:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-a683b7434bc54b9f8831d8ba8ae0574b2023-09-03T12:20:52ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019531L1410.3847/2041-8213/ace88bPossible Detection of the Progenitor of the Type II Supernova SN 2023ixfJoanne L Pledger0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8907-3051Michael M Shara1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0155-2539Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, University of Central Lancashire , Preston, PR1 2HE, UK ; jpledger@uclan.ac.ukAmerican Museum of Natural History , New York City, NY 10024, USAStellar evolution theory predicts multiple pathways to the explosive deaths of stars as supernovae. Locating and characterizing the progenitors of well-studied supernovae is important to constrain the theory and to justify and design future surveys to improve on progenitor detections. Here we report the serendipitous preexplosion imaging, by the Hubble Space Telescope, of SN 2023ixf, one of the nearest extragalactic supernovae ever discovered, in the galaxy M101. The extremely red color and absolute magnitude ${M}_{{\rm{F}}814{\rm{W}}}=-{5.11}_{-0.47}^{+0.65}$ mag suggest that the progenitor was a red supergiant. Comparison with stellar evolutionary isochrones suggests it is within the relatively low initial mass range of ∼8–10 M _⊙ and that there is likely a lot of dust present at the supernova site.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ace88bType II supernovaeSupernovaeCore-collapse supernovae |
| spellingShingle | Joanne L Pledger Michael M Shara Possible Detection of the Progenitor of the Type II Supernova SN 2023ixf The Astrophysical Journal Letters Type II supernovae Supernovae Core-collapse supernovae |
| title | Possible Detection of the Progenitor of the Type II Supernova SN 2023ixf |
| title_full | Possible Detection of the Progenitor of the Type II Supernova SN 2023ixf |
| title_fullStr | Possible Detection of the Progenitor of the Type II Supernova SN 2023ixf |
| title_full_unstemmed | Possible Detection of the Progenitor of the Type II Supernova SN 2023ixf |
| title_short | Possible Detection of the Progenitor of the Type II Supernova SN 2023ixf |
| title_sort | possible detection of the progenitor of the type ii supernova sn 2023ixf |
| topic | Type II supernovae Supernovae Core-collapse supernovae |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ace88b |
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