Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jul 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009hst..prop12170g&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #12170. Cycle 18
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Understanding the explosive death of massive stars is a key open question in astrophysics. Direct observational information about the pre-explosion properties of supernova progenitors would provide explosion models with a set of initial conditions, and a crucial complement to supernova observations that constrain the explosive outcome. In recent years, identifying the progenitors of the most nearby supernovae in pre-explosion HST images has allowed significant progress in this field. However, this is limited mostly to H-rich type II supernova explosions of red supergiants. The improtant class of stripped {H-poor} type Ib and Ic supernovae, which are especially interesting due to their possible relation to long Gamma-Ray Bursts, remain obscure, with many attempts to discover progenitors yielding only upper limits. The hunt for these elusive progenitors is difficult probably due to a combination of factors: SN Ib/c are intrinsically rare, and their stripped progenitors {probably blue Wolf-Rayet stars} are difficult to detect in archival pre-explosion HST images, mostly obtained in red bands. The nearby type Ib SN 2007fo exploded in NGC 7714, a galaxy with archival imaging uniquely extending to the UV. We have used ground-based Gemini AO imaging of the supernova to localize it on the pre-explosion HST grid, and found that it resides in a complicated area where a single progenitor cannot be pinpointed {though candidates exist}. Next, we propose to reimage this location and compare the post-explosion images to archival templates in order to robustly identify the progenitor. Using image-subtraction we will compare the two HST epochs, identify objects that decay or disappear, and thus locate the progenitor of this SN, a very exciting prospect. Failing to detect the progenitor would place strong limits on its luminosity, adding to the growing body of information on SN progenitors. A modest investment of 2 HST orbits has the potential to reveal the first W-R progenitor of a type Ib supernova.;
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