Constraining the Masses of the Progenitors of Core-Collapse Supernovae

Abstract

Knowledge of the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae is a fundamental component in understanding the explosions. The recent progress in finding such stars is reviewed. The minimum initial mass that can produce a supernova has converged to 8 ± 1M⊙, from direct detections of red supergiant progenitors of II-P SNe and the most massive white dwarf progenitors, although this value is model dependent. It appears that most type Ibc supernovae arise from moderate mass interacting binaries. The highly energetic, broad-lined Ic supernovae are likely produced by massive, Wolf-Rayet progenitors. There is some evidence to suggest that the majority of massive stars above ∼20M⊙ may collapse quietly to black-holes and that the explosions remain undetected. The recent discovery of a class of ultra-bright type II supernovae and the direct detection of some progenitor stars bearing luminous blue variable characteristics suggests some very massive stars do produce highly energetic explosions. The physical mechanism is open to debate and these SNe pose a challenge to stellar evolutionary theory.

Asiago Supernova classification program: Blowing out the first two hundred candles

“…Building on this successful experience, the ESO Large Program was merged into a new major international collaboration, the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO) 6 , that is using a major fraction of the time at the ESO NTT at La Silla (Chile). PESSTO started in 2012 and will be active for 4 (+1) years (Smartt et al 2013).…”