Constraints for the Progenitor Masses of 17 Historic Core-Collapse Supernovae

Using resolved stellar photometry measured from archival HST imaging, we generate color-magnitude diagrams of the stars within 50 pc of the locations of historic core-collapse supernovae that took place in galaxies within 8 Mpc. We fit these color-magnitude distributions with stellar evolution models to determine the best-fit age distribution of the young population. We then translate these age distributions into probability distributions for the progenitor mass of each SNe. The measurements are anchored by the main-sequence stars surrounding the event, making them less sensitive to assumptions about binarity, post-main-sequence evolution, or circumstellar dust. We demonstrate that, in cases where the literature contains masses that have been measured from direct imaging, our measurements are consistent with (but less precise than) these measurements. Using this technique, we constrain the progenitor masses of 17 historic SNe, 11 of which have no previous estimates from direct imaging. Our measurements still allow the possibility that all SNe progenitor masses are <20 M_sun. However, the large uncertainties for the highest-mass progenitors also allow the possibility of no upper-mass cutoff.

Shock formation in stellar perturbations and tidal shock waves in binaries

We investigate whether tidal forcing can result in sound waves steepening into shocks at the surface of a star. To model the sound waves and shocks, we consider adiabatic non-spherical perturbations of a Newtonian perfect fluid star. Because tidal forcing of sounds waves is naturally treated with linear theory, but the formation of shocks is necessarily nonlinear, we consider the perturbations in two regimes. In most of the interior, where tidal forcing dominates, we treat the perturbations as linear, while in a thin layer near the surface we treat them in full nonlinearity but in the approximation of plane symmetry, fixed gravitational field and a barotropic equation of state. Using a hodograph transformation, this nonlinear regime is also described by a linear equation. We show that the two regimes can be matched to give rise to a single mode equation which is linear but models nonlinearity in the outer layers. This can then be used to obtain an estimate for the critical mode amplitude at which a shock forms near the surface. As an application, we consider the tidal waves raised by the companion in an irrotational binary system in circular orbit. We find that shocks form at the same orbital separation where Roche lobe overflow occurs, and so shock formation is unlikely to occur.