DETECTION OF AN OUTBURST ONE YEAR PRIOR TO THE EXPLOSION OF SN 2011ht
- School of Mathematics and Physics, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom)
- Department of Astronomy and the Center for Advanced Computing Research, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91225 (United States)
- Coddenham Astronomical Observatory, Suffolk IP6 9QY (United Kingdom)
- University Observatory Munich, Scheinerstrasse 1, D-81679 Munich (Germany)
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
- Department of Physics, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)
Using imaging from the Pan-STARRS1 survey, we identify a precursor outburst at 287 and 170 days prior to the reported explosion of the purported Type IIn supernova (SN) 2011ht. In the Pan-STARRS data, a source coincident with SN 2011ht is detected exclusively in the z {sub P1} and y {sub P1}-bands. An absolute magnitude of M{sub z} ≅ –11.8 suggests that this was an outburst of the progenitor star. Unfiltered, archival Catalina Real Time Transient Survey images also reveal a coincident source from at least 258 to 138 days before the main event. We suggest that the outburst is likely to be an intrinsically red eruption, although we cannot conclusively exclude a series of erratic outbursts which were observed only in the redder bands by chance. This is only the fourth detection of an outburst prior to a claimed SN, and lends credence to the possibility that many more interacting transients have pre-explosion outbursts, which have been missed by current surveys.
- OSTI ID:
- 22364099
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 779, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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