Constraints on the progenitor system of the type Ia supernova 2014J from pre-explosion Hubble space telescope imaging

Journal Article · Sun Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/790/1/3· OSTI ID:22365632

Kelly, Patrick L.; Fox, Ori D.; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Shen, Ken J.; Zheng, WeiKang; Graham, Melissa L.; Tucker, Brad E. ^[1]; Cenko, S. Bradley ^[2]; Prato, Lisa ^[3]; Schaefer, Gail ^[4]

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1. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)
2. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
3. Lowell Observatory, 1400 West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States)
4. The CHARA Array of Georgia State University, Mount Wilson Observatory, Mount Wilson, CA 91023 (United States)

We constrain the properties of the progenitor system of the highly reddened Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2014J in Messier 82 (M82; d ≈ 3.5 Mpc). We determine the supernova (SN) location using Keck-II K-band adaptive optics images, and we find no evidence for flux from a progenitor system in pre-explosion near-ultraviolet through near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images. Our upper limits exclude systems having a bright red giant companion, including symbiotic novae with luminosities comparable to that of RS Ophiuchi. While the flux constraints are also inconsistent with predictions for comparatively cool He-donor systems (T ≲ 35,000 K), we cannot preclude a system similar to V445 Puppis. The progenitor constraints are robust across a wide range of R{sub V} and A{sub V} values, but significantly greater values than those inferred from the SN light curve and spectrum would yield proportionally brighter luminosity limits. The comparatively faint flux expected from a binary progenitor system consisting of white dwarf stars would not have been detected in the pre-explosion HST imaging. Infrared HST exposures yield more stringent constraints on the luminosities of very cool (T < 3000 K) companion stars than was possible in the case of SN Ia 2011fe.

• OSTI ID: 22365632
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 790, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
EXPLOSIONS
FORECASTING
LUMINOSITY
NOVAE
OPTICS
SPACE
SPECTRA
SUPERNOVAE
TELESCOPES
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
VISIBLE RADIATION
WHITE DWARF STARS