Luminous Radio Emission from the Superluminous Supernova 2017ens at 3.3 yr after Explosion

• We present the results from a multiyear radio campaign of the superluminous supernova (SLSN) SN 2017ens, which yielded the earliest radio detection of an SLSN to date at the age of ∼3.3 yr after explosion. SN 2017ens was not detected at radio frequencies in the first ∼300 days but reached Lν ≈ 1028 erg s−1 cm−2 Hz−1 at ν ∼ 6 GHz, ∼1250 days post explosion. Interpreting the radio observations in the context of synchrotron radiation from the supernova shock interaction with the circumstellar medium (CSM), we infer an effective mass-loss rate Ṁ ≈ 10−4 M☉ yr−1 at r ∼ 1017 cm from the explosion's site, for a wind speed of vw = 50–60 km s−1 as measured from optical spectra. These findings are consistent with the spectroscopic metamorphosis of SN 2017ens from hydrogen poor to hydrogen rich ∼190 days after explosion reported by Chen et al. SN 2017ens is thus an addition to the sample of hydrogen-poor massive progenitors that explode shortly after having lost their hydrogen envelope. The inferred circumstellar densities, implying a CSM mass up to ∼0.5 M☉, and low velocity of the ejection suggest that binary interactions (in the form of common-envelope evolution and subsequent envelope ejection) play a role in shaping the evolution of the stellar progenitors of SLSNe in the ≲500 yr preceding core collapse.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Core-collapse supernovae; Extragalactic radio sources

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)