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Published November 10, 2023 | Published
Journal Article Open

The SN 2023ixf Progenitor in M101. I. Infrared Variability

Soraisam, Monika D.1 ORCID icon
Szalai, Tamás2, 3 ORCID icon
Van Dyk, Schuyler D.4, 5 ORCID icon
Andrews, Jennifer E.1 ORCID icon
Srinivasan, Sundar6 ORCID icon
Chun, Sang-Hyun7 ORCID icon
Matheson, Thomas8 ORCID icon
Scicluna, Peter9 ORCID icon
Vasquez-Torres, Diego A.6 ORCID icon
  • 1. ROR icon Gemini North Observatory
  • 2. ROR icon University of Szeged
  • 3. ELKH-SZTE Stellar Astrophysics Research Group, Szegedi út, Kt. 766, 6500 Baja, Hungary
  • 4. ROR icon Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
  • 5. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 6. ROR icon National Autonomous University of Mexico
  • 7. ROR icon Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
  • 8. ROR icon NOIRLab
  • 9. ROR icon European Southern Observatory

Abstract

Observational evidence points to a red supergiant (RSG) progenitor for SN 2023ixf. The progenitor candidate has been detected in archival images at wavelengths (≥0.6 μm) where RSGs typically emit profusely. This object is distinctly variable in the infrared (IR). We characterize the variability using pre-explosion mid-IR (3.6 and 4.5 μm) Spitzer and ground-based near-IR (JHKs) archival data jointly covering 19 yr. The IR light curves exhibit significant variability with rms amplitudes in the range 0.2–0.4 mag, increasing with decreasing wavelength. From a robust period analysis of the more densely sampled Spitzer data, we measure a period of 1091 ± 71 days. We demonstrate using Gaussian process modeling that this periodicity is also present in the near-IR light curves, thus indicating a common physical origin, which is likely pulsational instability. We use a period–luminosity relation for RSGs to derive a value of MK = −11.58 ± 0.31 mag. Assuming a late M spectral type, this corresponds to log(L/L⊙) = 5.27±0.12 at Teff = 3200 K and to log(L/L⊙) = 5.37±0.12 at Teff = 3500 K. This gives an independent estimate of the progenitor's luminosity, unaffected by uncertainties in extinction and distance. Assuming the progenitor candidate underwent enhanced dust-driven mass loss during the time of these archival observations, and using an empirical period–luminosity–based mass-loss prescription, we obtain a mass-loss rate of around (2–4) × 10−4 M⊙ yr−1. Comparing the above luminosity with stellar evolution models, we infer an initial mass for the progenitor candidate of 20 ± 4 M⊙, making this one of the most massive progenitors for a Type II SN detected to date.

Copyright and License

© 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

Acknowledgement

This work is based in part on archival data obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which was operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with NASA.

Based on observations obtained at the international Gemini Observatory, a program of NSF's NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation on behalf of the Gemini Observatory partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), National Research Council (Canada), Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (Chile), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (Argentina), Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (Brazil), and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (Republic of Korea).

This work was enabled by observations made from the Gemini North and United Kingdom Infrared (UKIRT) telescopes, located within the Maunakea Science Reserve and adjacent to the summit of Maunakea. We are grateful for the privilege of observing the Universe from a place that is unique in both its astronomical quality and its cultural significance.

UKIRT is owned by the University of Hawaii (UH) and operated by the UH Institute for Astronomy. When the data used here were obtained, UKIRT was operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre on behalf of the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the UK.

T.S. is supported by the NKFIH/OTKA grant FK-134432 of the National Research, Development and Innovation (NRDI) Office of Hungary, by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and by the New National Excellence Program (UNKP-22-5) of the Ministry for Culture and Innovation from the source of the NRDI Fund, Hungary. S.S. and D.A.V.-T. acknowledge support from UNAM-PAPIIT program IA104822. S.H.C. acknowledges support from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2021R1C1C2003511) and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute under R&D program (Project No. 2023-1-860-02) supervised by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Facilities

Spitzer - Spitzer Space Telescope satellite, HST - Hubble Space Telescope satellite, UKIRT - United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, Gemini:Gillett - , MMT - MMT at Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory.

Software References

numpy (Harris et al. 2020), scipy (Virtanen et al. 2020), astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2013), matplotlib (Hunter 2007), NIFTy (Selig et al. 2013).

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