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Title: Heating from free-free absorption and the mass-loss rate of the progenitor stars to supernovae

Abstract

An accurate determination of the mass-loss rate of the progenitor stars to core-collapse supernovae is often limited by uncertainties pertaining to various model assumptions. It is shown that under conditions when the temperature of the circumstellar medium is set by heating due to free-free absorption, observations of the accompanying free-free optical depth allow a direct determination of the mass-loss rate from observed quantities in a rather model-independent way. The temperature is determined self-consistently, which results in a characteristic time dependence of the free-free optical depth. This can be used to distinguish free-free heating from other heating mechanisms. Since the importance of free-free heating is quite model dependent, this also makes possible several consistency checks of the deduced mass-loss rate. It is argued that the free-free absorption observed in SN 1993J is consistent with heating from free-free absorption. The deduced mass-loss rate of the progenitor star is, approximately, 10{sup –5} M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1} for a wind velocity of 10 km s{sup –1}.

Authors:
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22356759
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 787; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ABSORPTION; APPROXIMATIONS; MASS TRANSFER; STARS; STELLAR WINDS; SUPERNOVAE; TIME DEPENDENCE; VELOCITY

Citation Formats

Björnsson, C. -I., and Lundqvist, P., E-mail: bjornsson@astro.su.se, E-mail: peter@astro.su.se. Heating from free-free absorption and the mass-loss rate of the progenitor stars to supernovae. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/787/2/143.
Björnsson, C. -I., & Lundqvist, P., E-mail: bjornsson@astro.su.se, E-mail: peter@astro.su.se. Heating from free-free absorption and the mass-loss rate of the progenitor stars to supernovae. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/787/2/143
Björnsson, C. -I., and Lundqvist, P., E-mail: bjornsson@astro.su.se, E-mail: peter@astro.su.se. 2014. "Heating from free-free absorption and the mass-loss rate of the progenitor stars to supernovae". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/787/2/143.
@article{osti_22356759,
title = {Heating from free-free absorption and the mass-loss rate of the progenitor stars to supernovae},
author = {Björnsson, C. -I. and Lundqvist, P., E-mail: bjornsson@astro.su.se, E-mail: peter@astro.su.se},
abstractNote = {An accurate determination of the mass-loss rate of the progenitor stars to core-collapse supernovae is often limited by uncertainties pertaining to various model assumptions. It is shown that under conditions when the temperature of the circumstellar medium is set by heating due to free-free absorption, observations of the accompanying free-free optical depth allow a direct determination of the mass-loss rate from observed quantities in a rather model-independent way. The temperature is determined self-consistently, which results in a characteristic time dependence of the free-free optical depth. This can be used to distinguish free-free heating from other heating mechanisms. Since the importance of free-free heating is quite model dependent, this also makes possible several consistency checks of the deduced mass-loss rate. It is argued that the free-free absorption observed in SN 1993J is consistent with heating from free-free absorption. The deduced mass-loss rate of the progenitor star is, approximately, 10{sup –5} M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1} for a wind velocity of 10 km s{sup –1}.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/787/2/143},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22356759}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 787,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}