Progenitor and close-in circumstellar medium of type II supernova 2020fqv from high-cadence photometry and ultra-rapid UV spectroscopy

Tinyanont, Samaporn; Ridden-Harper, R.; Foley, R. J.; Morozova, V.; Kilpatrick, C. D.; Dimitriadis, G.; DeMarchi, L.; Gagliano, A.; Jacobson-Galán, W. V.; Messick, A.; Pierel, J. D. R.; Piro, A. L.; Ramirez-Ruiz, E.; Siebert, M. R.; Chambers, K. C.; Clever, K. E.; Coulter, D. A.; De, K.; Hankins, M.; Hung, T.; Jha, S. W.; Jimenez Angel, C. E.; Jones, D. O.; Kasliwal, M. M.; Lin, C. -C.; Marques-Chaves, R.; Margutti, R.; Moore, A.; Pérez-Fournon, I.; Poidevin, F.; Rest, A.; Shirley, R.; Smith, C. S.; Strasburger, E.; Swift, J. J.; Wainscoat, R. J.; Wang, Q.; Zenati, Y.
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Advertised on:
5
2022
Number of authors
38
IAC number of authors
3
Citations
27
Refereed citations
22
Description
We present observations of SN 2020fqv, a Virgo-cluster type II core-collapse supernova (CCSN) with a high temporal resolution light curve from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) covering the time of explosion; ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) starting 3.3 d post-explosion; ground-based spectroscopic observations starting 1.1 d post-explosion; along with extensive photometric observations. Massive stars have complicated mass-loss histories leading up to their death as CCSNe, creating circumstellar medium (CSM) with which the SNe interact. Observations during the first few days post-explosion can provide important information about the mass-loss rate during the late stages of stellar evolution. Model fits to the quasi-bolometric light curve of SN 2020fqv reveal 0.23 M⊙ of CSM confined within 1450 R⊙ (1014 cm) from its progenitor star. Early spectra (<4 d post-explosion), both from HST and ground-based observatories, show emission features from high-ionization metal species from the outer, optically thin part of this CSM. We find that the CSM is consistent with an eruption caused by the injection of ~5 × 1046 erg into the stellar envelope ~300 d pre-explosion, potentially from a nuclear burning instability at the onset of oxygen burning. Light-curve fitting, nebular spectroscopy, and pre-explosion HST imaging consistently point to a red supergiant (RSG) progenitor with $M_{\rm ZAMS}\approx 13.5\!-\!15 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, typical for SN II progenitor stars. This finding demonstrates that a typical RSG, like the progenitor of SN 2020fqv, has a complicated mass-loss history immediately before core collapse.
Related projects
Project Image
Formation and Evolution of Galaxies: Observations in Infrared and other Wavelengths
This IAC research group carries out several extragalactic projects in different spectral ranges, using space as well as ground-based telescopes, to study the cosmological evolution of galaxies and the origin of nuclear activity in active galaxies. The group is a member of the international consortium which built the SPIRE instrument for the
Ismael
Pérez Fournon