Discovery, Progenitor & Early Evolution of a Stripped Envelope Supernova iPTF13bvn
Abstract
The intermediate Palomar Transient Factory reports our discovery of a young supernova, iPTF13bvn, in the nearby galaxy, NGC5806 (22.5Mpc). Our spectral sequence in the optical and infrared suggests a likely Type Ib classification. We identify a single, blue progenitor candidate in deep pre-explosion imaging within a 2{\sigma} error circle of 80 mas (8.7 pc). The candidate has a MB luminosity of -5.2 +/- 0.4 mag and a B-I color of 0.1+/-0.3 mag. If confirmed by future observations, this would be the first direct detection for a progenitor of a Type Ib. Fitting a power law to the early light curve, we find an extrapolated explosion date around 1.1 days before our first detection. We see no evidence of shock cooling. The pre-explosion detection limits constrain the radius of the progenitor to be smaller than a few solar radii. iPTF13bvn is also detected in cm and mm-wavelengths. Fitting a synchrotron self-absorption model to our radio data, we find a mass loading parameter of 1.3*10^12 g/cm. Assuming a wind velocity of 10^3km/s, we derive a progenitor mass loss rate of 3*10^-5Msun/yr. Our observations, taken as a whole, are consistent with a Wolf Rayet progenitor of the supernova iPTF13bvn.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1307.1470,
title = {Discovery, Progenitor & Early Evolution of a Stripped Envelope Supernova iPTF13bvn},
author = {Yi Cao and Mansi M. Kasliwal and Iair Arcavi and Assaf Horesh and Paul Hancock and Stefano Valenti and S. Bradley Cenko and S. R. Kulkarni and Avishay Gal-Yam and Evgeny Gorbikov and Eran O. Ofek and David Sand and Ofer Yaron and Melissa Graham and Jeffrey M. Silverman and J. Craig Wheeler and G. H. Marion and Emma Walker and Paolo Mazzali and D. Andrew Howell and Josh Bloom and Peter E. Nugent and Jason Surace and Frank Masci and John Carpenter and Nathalie Degenaar and Christopher Gelino},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1307.1470},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
18 pages, 5 figures