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The Early Ultraviolet Light Curves of Type II Supernovae and the Radii of Their Progenitor Stars

July 2024 • 2024ApJ...970...96I

Authors • Irani, Ido • Morag, Jonathan • Gal-Yam, Avishay • Waxman, Eli • Schulze, Steve • Sollerman, Jesper • Hinds, K. -Ryan • Perley, Daniel A. • Chen, Ping • Strotjohann, Nora L. • Yaron, Ofer • Zimmerman, Erez A. • Bruch, Rachel • Ofek, Eran O. • Soumagnac, Maayane T. • Yang, Yi • Groom, Steven L. • Masci, Frank J. • Aubert, Marie • Riddle, Reed • Bellm, Eric C. • Hale, David

Abstract • We present a sample of 34 normal Type II supernovae (SNe II) detected with the Zwicky Transient Facility, with multiband UV light curves starting at t ≤ 4 days after explosion, and X-ray observations. We characterize the early UV-optical color, provide empirical host-extinction corrections, and show that the t > 2 day UV-optical colors and the blackbody evolution of the sample are consistent with shock cooling (SC) regardless of the presence of "flash ionization" features. We present a framework for fitting SC models that can reproduce the parameters of a set of multigroup simulations up to 20% in radius and velocity. Observations of 15 SNe II are well fit by models with breakout radii <1014 cm. Eighteen SNe are typically more luminous, with observations at t ≥ 1 day that are better fit by a model with a large >1014 cm breakout radius. However, these fits predict an early rise during the first day that is too slow. We suggest that these large-breakout events are explosions of stars with an inflated envelope or with confined circumstellar material (CSM). Using the X-ray data, we derive constraints on the extended (∼1015 cm) CSM density independent of spectral modeling and find that most SN II progenitors lose Ṁ<10‑4M⊙yr‑1 up to a few years before explosion. We show that the overall observed breakout radius distribution is skewed to higher radii due to a luminosity bias. We argue that the 66‑22+11% of red supergiants (RSGs) explode as SNe II with breakout radii consistent with the observed distribution of RSGs, with a tail extending to large radii, likely due to the presence of CSM.

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