dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaRevealing the diversity of Type IIn supernova progenitors through their environments
| Authors | Zexi Niu, Ning-chen Sun, Emmanouil Zapartas, Conor L. Ransome, Justyn R. Maund, Cesar Rojas-Bravo, Jifeng Liu |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | 2601.07542vv1 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.07542 |
| License | http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/ |
Abstract
Type IIn supernovae (SNe IIn) are hydrogen-rich explosions embedded in dense circumstellar medium (CSM), which gives rise to their characteristic narrow hydrogen emission lines. The nature of their progenitors and pre-explosion mass loss remains, however, poorly understood. Using high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, we analyze the local stellar environments of a volume-limited sample (z < 0.02) of 31 SNe IIn. The environments of SNe IIn are found to be very diverse; the SN could reside within a star-forming region (Class 1), outside a star-forming region (Class 2), or in much older environments without any obvious signs of star formation (Class 3). The bright SNe IIn (Mpeak < -19.5 mag) predominantly occur in Class 1 environments, indicative of very massive progenitors, while the faint SNe IIn (Mpeak < -15.5 mag) are associated with Classes 2 and 3 environments, suggesting the least massive progenitors. Meanwhile, normal SNe IIn with -19.5 < Mpeak < -15.5 mag occur in all three types of environments, suggesting a diversity in their progenitor mass, lifetime, and evolutionary pathways. Moreover, the directly detected SN IIn progenitors are systematically brighter and/or bluer than the youngest stellar populations in their environments, suggesting that they were either in a non-quiescent state when observed or had experienced binary interactions. These results point to a significantly diverse origin for progenitors of SNe IIn, spanning a wide range of masses, evolutionary stages, and potential binary interaction histories.
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"abstract": "Type IIn supernovae (SNe IIn) are hydrogen-rich explosions embedded in dense circumstellar medium (CSM), which gives rise to their characteristic narrow hydrogen emission lines. The nature of their progenitors and pre-explosion mass loss remains, however, poorly understood. Using high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, we analyze the local stellar environments of a volume-limited sample (z \u003c 0.02) of 31 SNe IIn. The environments of SNe IIn are found to be very diverse; the SN could reside within a star-forming region (Class 1), outside a star-forming region (Class 2), or in much older environments without any obvious signs of star formation (Class 3). The bright SNe IIn (Mpeak \u003c -19.5 mag) predominantly occur in Class 1 environments, indicative of very massive progenitors, while the faint SNe IIn (Mpeak \u003c -15.5 mag) are associated with Classes 2 and 3 environments, suggesting the least massive progenitors. Meanwhile, normal SNe IIn with -19.5 \u003c Mpeak \u003c -15.5 mag occur in all three types of environments, suggesting a diversity in their progenitor mass, lifetime, and evolutionary pathways. Moreover, the directly detected SN IIn progenitors are systematically brighter and/or bluer than the youngest stellar populations in their environments, suggesting that they were either in a non-quiescent state when observed or had experienced binary interactions. These results point to a significantly diverse origin for progenitors of SNe IIn, spanning a wide range of masses, evolutionary stages, and potential binary interaction histories.",
"arxiv_id": "2601.07542",
"authors": [
"Zexi Niu",
"Ning-chen Sun",
"Emmanouil Zapartas",
"Conor L. Ransome",
"Justyn R. Maund",
"Cesar Rojas-Bravo",
"Jifeng Liu"
],
"categories": [
"astro-ph.HE"
],
"license": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
"title": "Revealing the diversity of Type IIn supernova progenitors through their environments",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.07542",
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