On the Progenitor of the Type II Supernova 2004et in NGC 6946

February 2005 • 2005PASP..117..121L

Authors • Li, Weidong • Van Dyk, Schuyler D. • Filippenko, Alexei V. • Cuillandre, Jean-Charles

Abstract • Supernova (SN) 2004et is the eighth historical SN in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 6946. Here we report on early photometric and spectroscopic monitoring of this object. SN 2004et is a Type II event, exhibiting a plateau in its light curves, but its spectral and color evolution appear to differ significantly from those of other, more normal Type II plateau (II-P) SNe. We have analyzed Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope images of the host galaxy taken prior to the SN explosion, identifying a candidate progenitor for the SN. The star's absolute magnitude and intrinsic color imply that it was a yellow, rather than red, supergiant star, with an estimated zero-age main-sequence mass of 15⁺⁵_-2 M_solar. Although this mass estimate is consistent with estimates and upper limits for the progenitors of other, more normal SNe II-P, the SN 2004et progenitor's unusual color could further imply a preexplosion evolutionary history analogous to, but less extreme than, that for the progenitors of the peculiar Type II-P SN 1987A or the Type IIb SN 1993J. The identity of the progenitor candidate needs to be verified when the SN has significantly dimmed.

Based on data obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

Links

• SIMBAD http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbo.pl?bibcode=2005PASP..117..121L
• PDF https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/428278/pdf
• NED https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/uri/NED::InRefcode/2005PASP..117..121L
• PREPRINT http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0412487
• ELECTR https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/428278
• SPIRES http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+eprint+astro-ph/0412487