ON THE PROGENITOR AND EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE TYPE II SUPERNOVA 2009kr
/ Authors
M. Fraser, K. Takáts, A. Pastorello, S. Smartt, S. Mattila, M. Botticella, S. Valenti, M. Ergon, J. Sollerman, I. Arcavi
and 8 more authors
S. Benetti, F. Bufano, R. M. Crockett, I. J. Danziger, A. Gal-Yam, J. Maund, S. Taubenberger, M. Turatto
/ Abstract
We identify a source coincident with SN 2009kr in Hubble Space Telescope pre-explosion images. The object appears to be a single point source with an intrinsic color V − I = 1.1 ± 0.25 and MV = −7.6 ± 0.6. If this is a single star, it would be a yellow supergiant of log L/L☉ ∼ 5.1 and a mass of 15+5−4 M☉. The spatial resolution does not allow us yet to definitively determine if the progenitor object is a single star, a binary system, or a compact cluster. We show that the early light curve is similar to a Type IIL SN, but the prominent Hα P-Cygni profiles and the signature of the end of a recombination phase are reminiscent of a Type IIP. The evolution of the expanding ejecta will play an important role in understanding the progenitor object.
Journal: The Astrophysical Journal Letters