THE PROGENITOR OF SN 2011ja: CLUES FROM CIRCUMSTELLAR INTERACTION
- Institute for Theory and Computation, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 1 Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400 005 (India)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Australian Astronomical Observatory, P.O. Box 915, North Ryde, NSW 1670 (Australia)
- Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Koramangala, Bangalore (India)
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)
- Department of Physics, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, ON K7K 7B4 (Canada)
- Department of Physics, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX (United States)
- Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Manora Peak, Nainital (India)
Massive stars, possibly red supergiants, which retain extended hydrogen envelopes until core collapse, produce Type II plateau (IIP) supernovae. The ejecta from these explosions shocks the circumstellar matter originating from the mass loss of the progenitor during the final phases of its life. This interaction accelerates particles to relativistic energies which then lose energy via synchrotron radiation in the shock-amplified magnetic fields and inverse Compton scattering against optical photons from the supernova. These processes produce different signatures in the radio and X-ray parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Observed together, they allow us to break the degeneracy between shock acceleration and magnetic field amplification. In this work, we use X-rays observations from the Chandra and radio observations from the Australia Telescope Compact Array to study the relative importance of processes which accelerate particles and those which amplify magnetic fields in producing the non-thermal radiation from SN 2011ja. We use radio observations to constrain the explosion date. Multiple Chandra observations allow us to probe the history of variable mass loss from the progenitor. The ejecta expands into a low-density bubble followed by interaction with a higher density wind from a red supergiant consistent with M{sub ZAMS} {approx}> 12 M{sub Sun }. Our results suggest that a fraction of Type IIP supernovae may interact with circumstellar media set up by non-steady winds.
- OSTI ID:
- 22133969
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 774, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
RADIO OBSERVATIONS REVEAL UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTELLAR ENVIRONMENTS FOR SOME TYPE Ibc SUPERNOVA PROGENITORS
GALEX detection of shock breakout in type IIP supernova PS1-13arp: Implications for the progenitor STAR wind