No Arabic abstract
Reports of the death of the precursor of Supernova (SN) 1961V in NGC 1058 are exaggerated. Consideration of the best astrometric data shows that the star, known as Object 7, lies at the greatest proximity to SN 1961V and is the likely survivor of the SN impostor super-outburst. SN 1961V does not coincide with a neighboring radio source and is therefore not a radio SN. Additionally, the current properties of Object 7, based on data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, are consistent with it being a quiescent Luminous Blue Variable (LBV). Furthermore, post-explosion non-detections by the Spitzer Space Telescope do not necessarily and sufficiently rule out a surviving LBV. We therefore consider, based on the available evidence, that it is yet a bit premature to reclassify SN 1961V as a bona fide SN. The inevitable demise of this star, though, may not be too far off.
SN 1961V, one of Zwickys defining Type V supernovae (SN), was a peculiar transient in NGC 1058 that has variously been categorized as either a true core collapse SN leaving a black hole (BH) or neutron star (NS) remnant, or an eruption of a luminous blue variable (LBV) star. The former case is suggested by its association with a decaying non-thermal radio source, while the latter is suggested by its peculiar transient light curve and its low initial expansion velocities. The crucial difference is that the star survives a transient eruption but not an SN. All stars identified as possible survivors are significantly fainter, L_opt ~ 10^5 Lsun, than the L_opt ~ 3 10^6 Lsun progenitor star at optical wavelengths. While this can be explained by dust absorption in a shell of material ejected during the transient, the survivor must then be present as a L_IR ~ 3 10^6 Lsun mid-infrared source. Using archival Spitzer observations of the region, we show that such a luminous mid-IR source is not present. The brightest source of dust emission is only L_IR ~ 10^5 Lsun and does not correspond to the previously identified candidates for the surviving star. The dust cannot be made sufficiently distant and cold to avoid detection unless the ejection energy, mass and velocity scales are those of a SN or greater. We conclude that SN 1961V was a peculiar, but real, supernova. Its peculiarities are probably due to enhanced mass loss just prior to the SN, followed by the interactions of the SN blast wave with this ejecta. This adds to the evidence that there is a population of SN progenitors that have major mass loss episodes shortly before core collapse. The progenitor is a low metallicity, ~1/3 solar, high mass, M_ZAMS > 80 Msun, star, which means either that BH formation can be accompanied by an SN or that surprisingly high mass stars can form a NS.
We report the results of our follow-up campaign of the supernova impostor PSN J09132750+7627410, based on optical data covering $sim250,rm{d}$. From the beginning, the transient shows prominent narrow Balmer lines with P-Cygni profiles, with a blue-shifted absorption component becoming more prominent with time. Along the $sim3,rm{months}$ of the spectroscopic monitoring, broad components are never detected in the hydrogen lines, suggesting that these features are produced in slowly expanding material. The transient reaches an absolute magnitude $M_r=-13.60pm0.19,rm{mag}$ at maximum, a typical luminosity for supernova impostors. Amateur astronomers provided $sim4,rm{years}$ of archival observations of the host galaxy, NGC 2748. The detection of the quiescent progenitor star in archival images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope suggests it to be an $18-20$msun white-yellow supergiant.
We propose that the energetic major outburst of the supernova (SN) impostor SN 2009ip in September 2012 (outburst 2012b) was a mergerburst event, where two massive stars merged. The previous outbursts of 2009 and 2011 might have occurred near periastron passages of the binary system prior to the merger, in a similar manner to the luminosity peaks in the nineteenth century Great Eruption of the massive binary system Eta Carinae. The major 2012b outburst and the 2012a pre-outburst, resemble the light curve of the mergerburst event V838 Mon. A merger of an evolved star with a mass of M1~60-100Mo and a secondary main sequence star of M2~0.2-0.5M1 can account for the energy of SN 2009ip and for the high velocities of the ejected gas. The ejected nebula is expected to have a non-spherical structure, e.g. bipolar or even a more complicated morphology.
We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II Supernova Survey (SDSS-II SNS) data to measure the volumetric core collapse supernova (CCSN) rate in the redshift range (0.03<z<0.09). Using a sample of 89 CCSN we find a volume-averaged rate of (1.06 +/- 0.19) x 10**(-4)/(yr Mpc**3) at a mean redshift of 0.072 +/- 0.009. We measure the CCSN luminosity function from the data and consider the implications on the star formation history.
We have obtained early-time photometry and spectroscopy of Supernova (SN) 2013df in NGC 4414. The SN is clearly of Type IIb, with notable similarities to SN 1993J. From its luminosity at secondary maximum light, it appears that less $^{56}$Ni ($lesssim 0.06 M_{odot}$) was synthesized in the SN 2013df explosion than was the case for the SNe IIb 1993J, 2008ax, and 2011dh. Based on a comparison of the light curves, the SN 2013df progenitor must have been more extended in radius prior to explosion than the progenitor of SN 1993J. The total extinction for SN 2013df is estimated to be $A_V=0.30$ mag. The metallicity at the SN location is likely to be solar. We have conducted Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Target of Opportunity observations of the SN with the Wide Field Camera 3, and from a precise comparison of these new observations to archival HST observations of the host galaxy obtained 14 years prior to explosion, we have identified the progenitor of SN 2013df to be a yellow supergiant, somewhat hotter than a red supergiant progenitor for a normal Type II-Plateau SN. From its observed spectral energy distribution, assuming that the light is dominated by one star, the progenitor had effective temperature $T_{rm eff} = 4250 pm 100$ K and a bolometric luminosity $L_{rm bol}=10^{4.94 pm 0.06} L_{odot}$. This leads to an effective radius $R_{rm eff} = 545 pm 65 R_{odot}$. The star likely had an initial mass in the range of 13 to 17 $M_{odot}$; however, if it was a member of an interacting binary system, detailed modeling of the system is required to estimate this mass more accurately. The progenitor star of SN 2013df appears to have been relatively similar to the progenitor of SN 1993J.