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- Anderson, P., et al.
(author)
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The lowest-metallicity type II supernova from the highest-mass red supergiant progenitor
- 2018
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In: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2:7, s. 574-579
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Red supergiants have been confirmed as the progenitor stars of the majority of hydrogen-rich type II supernovae(1). However, while such stars are observed with masses > 25 M-circle dot (ref. (2)), detections of > 18 M-circle dot progenitors remain elusive(1). Red supergiants are also expected to form at all metallicities, but discoveries of explosions from low-metallicity progenitors are scarce. Here, we report observations of the type II supernova, SN 2015bs, for which we infer a progenitor metallicity of <= 0.1 Z(circle dot) from comparison to photospheric-phase spectral models(3), and a zero-age main-sequence mass of 17-25 M-circle dot through comparison to nebular-phase spectral models(4,5). SN 2015bs displays a normal 'plateau' light-curve morphology, and typical spectral properties, implying a red supergiant progenitor. This is the first example of such a high-mass progenitor for a 'normal' type II supernova, suggesting a link between high-mass red supergiant explosions and low-metallicity progenitors.
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