We report, for the first time, the detection of the Mn-K$α$ line in the Type IIb supernova (SN IIb) remnant, Cassiopeia A. Manganese ($^{55}$Mn after decay of $^{55}$Co), a neutron-rich element, together with chromium ($^{52}$Cr after decay of $^{52}$Fe), is mainly synthesized at the explosive incomplete Si burning regime. Therefore, the Mn/Cr mass ratio with its neutron excess reflects the neutronization at the relevant burning layer during the explosion. Chandra's archival X-ray data of Cassiopeia A indicate a low Mn/Cr mass ratio with values in the range 0.10--0.66, which, when compared to one-dimensional SN explosion models, requires that the electron fraction be 0.4990 $\lesssim Y_{\rm e} \lesssim$ 0.5 at the incomplete Si burning layer. An explosion model assuming a solar-metallicity progenitor with a typical explosion energy ($1 \times 10^{51}$ erg) fails to reproduce such a high electron fraction. In such models, the explosive Si-burning regime extends only to the Si/O layer established during the progenitor's hydrostatic evolution; the $Y_e$ in the Si/O layer is lower than the value required by our observational constraints. We can satisfy the observed Mn/Cr mass ratio if the explosive Si-burning regime were to extend into the O/Ne hydrostatic layer, which has a higher $Y_{\rm e}$. This would require an energetic ($> 2 \times 10^{51}$ erg) and/or asymmetric explosion of a sub-solar metallicity progenitor ($Z \lesssim 0.5Z_{\odot}$) for Cassiopeia A. The low initial metallicity can be used to rule out a single-star progenitor, leaving the possibility of a binary progenitor with a compact companion (white dwarf, neutron star or black hole). We discuss the detectability of X-rays from Bondi accretion onto such a compact companion around the explosion site. We also discuss other possible mass-loss scenarios for the progenitor system of Cassiopeia A.
We compare the diversity of spectral line velocities in a large sample of type IIb supernovae (SNe IIb) with the expected asphericity in the explosion, as measured from the light echoes of Cassiopeia A (Cas A), which was a historical galactic SN IIb. We revisit the results of Rest et al. (2011a), who used light echoes to observe Cas A from multiple lines of sight and hence determine its asphericity, as seen in the velocity of three spectral lines (He I $λ$5876, H$α$ and the Ca II NIR triplet). We confirm and improve on this measurement by reproducing the effect of the light echoes in the spect…
We explore a new scenario for producing stripped-envelope supernova progenitors. In our scenario, the stripped-envelope supernova is the second supernova of the binary, in which the envelope of the secondary was removed during its red supergiant phase by the impact of the first supernova. Through 2D hydrodynamical simulations, we find that $\sim$50-90$\%$ of the envelope can be unbound as long as the pre-supernova orbital separation is $\lesssim5$ times the stellar radius. Recombination energy plays a significant role in the unbinding, especially for relatively high mass systems ($\gtrsim18M_\…
The classic example of a Type IIb supernova is SN 1993J, which had a cool extended progenitor surrounded by a dense wind. There is evidence for another category of Type IIb supernova which has a more compact progenitor with a lower density, probably fast, wind. Distinguishing features of the compact category are: weak optical emission from the shock heated envelope at early times; nonexistent or very weak H emission in the late nebular phase; rapidly evolving radio emission; rapid expansion of the radio shell; and expected nonthermal as opposed to thermal X-ray emission. Type IIb supernovae th…
Several Type IIb supernovae (SNe IIb) have been extensively studied, both in terms of the progenitor radius and the mass-loss rate in the final centuries before the explosion. While the sample is still limited, evidence has been accumulating that the final mass-loss rate tends to be larger for a more extended progenitor, with the difference exceeding an order of magnitude between the more and less extended progenitors. The high mass-loss rates inferred for the more extended progenitors are not readily explained by a prescription commonly used for a single stellar wind. In this paper, we calcul…
We investigate the effect of the circumstellar medium density profile on the X-ray emission from outer ejecta knots in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant using the 1 Ms Chandra observation. The spectra of a number of radial series of ejecta knots at various positions around the remnant are analyzed using techniques similar to those devised in previous papers. We can obtain a reasonable match to our data for a circumstellar density profile proportional to r^-2 as would arise from the steady dense wind of a red supergiant, but the agreement is improved if we introduce a small (0.2-0.3 pc) centra…
Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is one of the best studied young Galactic supernova remnants. While providing a rare opportunity to study in detail the remnant of a Type IIb supernova, questions remain regarding the nature of its progenitor, its mass-loss history, and its pre-SN evolution. Here we present an optical investigation of the circumstellar environment around Cas A and find clumpy and filamentary Halpha emission nebulosities concentrated 10-15 pc (10-15 arcminutes) to the north and east. First reported by Minkowski as a faint H II region, these nebulosities exhibit distinct morphological and sp…
From stellar evolution simulations (using MESA) we conclude that the fatal common envelope evolution (CEE) channel for the formation of Type IIb core collapse supernova (SN IIb) progenitors can indeed account for some SNe IIb. In the fatal CEE channel for SNe IIb a low mass main sequence secondary star inspirals inside the giant envelope of the massive primary star and removes most of the giant envelope before it merges with the giant core. The key ingredient of the scenario studied here is that the tidally destroyed secondary star forms a new giant envelope. The mass-loss process in a wind du…
The remnants of core-collapse supernovae (SNe) have complex morphologies that may reflect asymmetries and structures developed during the progenitor SN explosion. Here we investigate how the morphology of the SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) reflects the characteristics of the progenitor SN with the aim to derive the energies and masses of the post-explosion anisotropies responsible for the observed spatial distribution of Fe and Si/S. We model the evolution of Cas A from the immediate aftermath of the progenitor SN to the three-dimensional interaction of the remnant with the surrounding medium. The p…
We present optical and near-infrared observations of the rapidly evolving supernova (SN) 2017czd that shows hydrogen features. The optical light curves exhibit a short plateau phase ($\sim 13$ days in the $R$-band) followed by a rapid decline by $4.5$ mag in $\sim 20 \mathrm{days}$ after the plateau. The decline rate is larger than those of any standard SNe, and close to those of rapidly evolving transients. The peak absolute magnitude is $-16.8$ mag in the $V$-band, which is within the observed range for SNe IIP and rapidly evolving transients. The spectra of SN 2017czd clearly show the hydro…
We explore properties of Type Ib and IIb SN progenitors that are produced by stable mass transfer in binary systems, using a new grid of stellar evolution models from an initial primary mass in the range of 10 - 18 $\mathrm{M_\odot}$ at solar and Large Magellanic Cloud metallicities. We find that blue and yellow supergiant SN IIb progenitors (e.g., of SN 2008ax, SN 2011dh, SN 2016gkg) have a hydrogen envelope mass less than about 0.15 $\mathrm{M_\odot}$, mostly resulting from early Case B mass transfer with relatively low initial masses and/or low metallicity. Red supergiant (RSG) SN IIb proge…
Type IIb supernovae (SNe IIb) present a unique opportunity for investigating the evolutionary channels and mechanisms governing the evolution of stripped-envelope SN progenitors due to a variety of observational constraints available. Comparison of these constraints with the full distribution of theoretical properties not only help ascertain the prevalence of observed properties in nature, but can also reveal currently unobserved populations. In this follow-up paper, we use the large grid of models presented in Sravan et al. 2019 to derive distributions of single and binary SNe IIb progenitor …
Core-collapse supernovae showing little or no hydrogen (denoted by Type IIb and Ib, respectively) are the explosions of massive stars that have lost some or most of their outer envelopes. How they lose their mass is unclear, but it likely involves binary interaction. So far, seven progenitors of such supernovae have been identified in pre-explosion imaging (five for Type IIb events and two for Type Ib events). Here, we evolve detailed binary stellar evolution models in order to better understand the nature of these progenitors. We find that the amount of hydrogen left in the envelope at the ti…
We present a detection in pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging of a point source consistent with being the progenitor star of the Type IIb supernova (SN IIb) 2016gkg. Post-explosion imaging from the Keck Adaptive Optics system was used to perform relative astrometry between the Keck and HST imaging. We identify a single point source in the HST images coincident with the SN position to 0.89-sigma. The HST photometry is consistent with the progenitor star being an A0Ia star with T=9500 K and log (L/Lsun)=5.15. We find that the SN 2016gkg progenitor star appears more consistent with…
Type IIb supernovae (SNe) are important candidates to understand mechanisms that drive the stripping of stripped-envelope (SE) supernova (SN) progenitors. While binary interactions and their high incidence are generally cited to favor them as Type IIb SN progenitors, this idea has not been tested using models covering a broad parameter space. In this paper, we use non-rotating single- and binary-star models at solar and low metallicities spanning a wide parameter space in primary mass, mass ratio, orbital period, and mass transfer efficiencies. We find that our single- and binary-star models c…
Cas A is a Galactic supernova remnant whose supernova explosion is observed to be of Type IIb from spectroscopy of its light echo. Having its SN type known, observational constraints on the mass-loss history of Cas A's progenitor can provide crucial information on the final fate of massive stars. In this paper, we study X-ray characteristics of the shocked ambient gas in Cas A using the 1 Ms observation carried out with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and try to constrain the mass-loss history of the progenitor star. We identify thermal emission from the shocked ambient gas along the outer bound…
We investigate ZTF18aalrxas, a double-peaked Type IIb core-collapse supernova (SN) discovered during science validation of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). ZTF18aalrxas was discovered while the optical emission was still rising towards the initial cooling peak (0.7 mag over 2 days). Our observations consist of multi-band (UV, optical) light-curves, and optical spectra spanning from $\approx0.7$ d to $\approx180$ d past the explosion. We use a Monte-Carlo based non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) model, that simultanously reproduces both the $\rm ^{56}Ni$ powered bolometric light cur…
We present radio and X-ray observations of the nearby Type IIb Supernova 2013df in NGC4414 from 10 to 250 days after the explosion. The radio emission showed a peculiar soft-to-hard spectral evolution. We present a model in which inverse Compton cooling of synchrotron emitting electrons can account for the observed spectral and light curve evolution. A significant mass loss rate, $\dot{M} \approx 8 \times 10^{-5}\,\rm M_{\odot}/yr$ for a wind velocity of 10 km/s, is estimated from the detailed modeling of radio and X-ray emission, which are primarily due to synchrotron and bremsstrahlung, resp…
We report the late-time evolution of Type IIb Supernova (SN IIb) 2013df. SN 2013df showed a dramatic change in its spectral features at ~1 year after the explosion. Early on it showed typical characteristics shared by SNe IIb/Ib/Ic dominated by metal emission lines, while later on it was dominated by broad and flat-topped Halpha and He I emissions. The late-time spectra are strikingly similar to SN IIb 1993J, which is the only previous example clearly showing the same transition. This late-time evolution is fully explained by a change in the energy input from the $^{56}$Co decay to the interac…
We report on the result of He abundance analysis of dense circumstellar clumps in the young supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. These clumps, which are called quasi-stationary flocculi (QSFs), are known from previous optical studies to be enriched in He along with N, but the degree of He overabundance relative to H has remained uncertain. For several QSFs with near-infrared spectroscopic data, we have analyzed their He I 1.083 $μ$m/Pa$γ$ ratios together with the ratios of [Fe II] lines by using the Raymond shock code. According to our analysis, He is overabundant relative to H by a factor of $\les…
Type IIb supernovae are believed to originate from core-collapse progenitors having kept only a very thin hydrogen envelope. We aim to explore how some physical factors, such as rotation, metallicity, overshooting, and the initial orbital period in binaries, significantly affect the Roche lobe overflow and the formation of type IIb supernovae. It is found that binaries are the main channel that capable of producing type typeIIb supernovae progenitors in the mass range for initial masses below 20 $M_{\odot}$. The formation of type IIb supernova progenitors is extremely sensitive to the initial …
We simulate the evolution of eccentric binary systems in the frame of the grazing envelope evolution (GEE) channel for the formation of Type IIb supernovae (SNe IIb), and find that extra mass removal by jets increases the parameter space for the formation of SNe IIb in this channel. To explore the role of eccentricity and the extra mass removal by jets we use the stellar evolutionary code MESA binary. The initial primary and secondary masses are M1i=15Mo and M2i=2.5Mo. We examine initial semi-major axes of 600-1000Ro, and eccentricities of e=0-0.9. Both Roche lobe overflow (RLOF) and mass remo…
In this work, photometric and spectroscopic analyses of a very low-luminosity Type IIb supernova (SN) 2016iyc have been performed. SN 2016iyc lies near the faint end among the distribution of similar supernovae (SNe). Given lower ejecta mass ($M_{\rm ej}$) and low nickel mass ($M_{\rm Ni}$) from the literature, combined with SN 2016iyc lying near the faint end, one-dimensional stellar evolution models of 9 - 14 M$_{\odot}$ zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) stars as the possible progenitors of SN 2016iyc have been performed using the publicly available code MESA. Moreover, synthetic explosions of t…
Type IIb Supernova (SN) 2011dh, with conclusive detection of an unprecedented Yellow Supergiant (YSG) progenitor, provides an excellent opportunity to deepen our understanding on the massive star evolution in the final centuries toward the SN explosion. In this paper, we report on detection and analyses of thermal X-ray emission from SN IIb 2011dh at ~500 days after the explosion on Chandra archival data, providing a solidly derived mass loss rate of an YSG progenitor for the first time. We find that the circumstellar media (CSM) should be dense, more than that expected from a Wolf-Rayet (WR) …
The death of massive stars is believed to involve aspheric explosions initiated by the collapse of an iron core. The specifics of how these catastrophic explosions proceed remain uncertain due, in part, to limited observational constraints on various processes that can introduce asymmetries deep inside the star. Here we present near-infrared observations of the young Milky Way supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, descendant of a type IIb core-collapse explosion, and a three-dimensional map of its interior, unshocked ejecta. The remnant's interior has a bubble-like morphology that smoothly connects …
We report initial observations and analysis on the Type IIb SN~2016gkg in the nearby galaxy NGC~613. SN~2016gkg exhibited a clear double-peaked light curve during its early evolution, as evidenced by our intensive photometric follow-up campaign. SN~2016gkg shows strong similarities with other Type IIb SNe, in particular with respect to the \he~emission features observed in both the optical and near infrared. SN~2016gkg evolved faster than the prototypical Type~IIb SN~1993J, with a decline similar to that of SN~2011dh after the first peak. The analysis of archival {\it Hubble Space Telescope} i…
We present X-ray, UV/optical, and radio observations of the stripped-envelope, core-collapse supernova (SN) 2011ei, one of the least luminous SNe IIb or Ib observed to date. Our observations begin with a discovery within 1 day of explosion and span several months afterward. Early optical spectra exhibit broad, Type II-like hydrogen Balmer profiles that subside rapidly and are replaced by Type Ib-like He-rich features on the timescale of one week. High-cadence monitoring of this transition suggests that absorption attributable to a high velocity (> 12,000 km/s) H-rich shell is not rare in Type …
We simulate the evolution of binary systems with a massive primary star of 15Mo where we introduce an enhanced mass loss due to jets that the secondary star might launch, and find that in many cases the enhanced mass loss brings the binary system to experience the grazing envelope evolution (GEE) and form a progenitor of Type IIb supernova (SN IIb). The jets, the Roche lobe overflow (RLOF), and a final stellar wind remove most of the hydrogen-rich envelope, leaving a blue-compact SN IIb progenitor. In many cases without this jet-driven mass loss the system enters a common envelope evolution (C…
Hubble Space Telescope observations of the site of the supernova (SN) 2008ax obtained in 2011 and 2013 reveal that the possible progenitor object detected in pre-explosion images was in fact multiple. Four point sources are resolved in the new, higher-resolution images. We identify one of the sources with the fading SN. The other three objects are consistent with single supergiant stars. We conclude that their light contaminated the previously identified progenitor candidate. After subtraction of these stars, the progenitor appears to be significantly fainter and bluer than previously measured…
Stripped envelope supernovae are a sub-class of core collapse supernovae showing several stages of H/He shell stripping that determines the class: H-free/He-poor SNe are classified as Type Ic, H-poor/He-rich are Type Ib, and H/He-rich are Type IIb. Stripping H/He with only stellar wind requires significantly higher mass loss rates than observed while binary-involved mass transfer may usually not strip enough to produce H/He free SNe. Type Ib/c SNe are sometimes found to include weak H/He transient lines as a product of a trace amount of H/He left over from stripping processes. The extent and m…
Observations of the SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) show asymmetries in the reverse shock that cannot be explained by models describing a remnant expanding through a spherically symmetric wind of the progenitor star. We investigate whether a past interaction of Cas A with an asymmetric circumstellar shell can account for the observed asymmetries. We performed 3D MHD simulations that describe the remnant evolution from the SN to its interaction with a circumstellar shell. The initial conditions are provided by a 3D neutrino-driven SN model whose morphology resembles Cas A. We explored the parameter sp…
We present early observations and analysis of the double-peaked Type IIb supernova (SN IIb) 2021zby. $TESS$ captured the prominent early shock cooling peak of SN 2021zby within the first $\sim$10 days after explosion with a 30-minute cadence. We present optical and near-infrared spectral series of SN 2021zby, including three spectra during the shock cooling phase. Using a multi-band model fit, we find that the inferred properties of its progenitor are consistent with a red supergiant or yellow supergiant, with an envelope mass of $\sim$0.3-3.0 M$_\odot$ and an envelope radius of $\sim$50-350$ …
We have obtained early-time photometry and spectroscopy of Supernova (SN) 2013df in NGC 4414. The SN is clearly of Type IIb, with notable similarities to SN 1993J. From its luminosity at secondary maximum light, it appears that less $^{56}$Ni ($\lesssim 0.06\ M_{\odot}$) was synthesized in the SN 2013df explosion than was the case for the SNe IIb 1993J, 2008ax, and 2011dh. Based on a comparison of the light curves, the SN 2013df progenitor must have been more extended in radius prior to explosion than the progenitor of SN 1993J. The total extinction for SN 2013df is estimated to be $A_V=0.30$ …
We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the type IIb supernova (SN) 2016gkg at 652, 1698, and 1795 days with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Comparing to pre-explosion imaging from 2001 obtained with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, we demonstrate that SN 2016gkg is now fainter than its candidate counterpart in the latest WFC3 imaging, implying that the counterpart has disappeared and confirming that it was the SN progenitor star. We show the latest light curve and Keck spectra of SN 2016gkg, which implies that SN 2016gkg is declining mor…
A set of hydrodynamical models based on stellar evolutionary progenitors is used to study the nature of SN 2011dh. Our modeling suggests that a large progenitor star ---with R ~200 Rsun---, is needed to reproduce the early light curve of SN 2011dh. This is consistent with the suggestion that the yellow super-giant star detected at the location of the SN in deep pre-explosion images is the progenitor star. From the main peak of the bolometric light curve and expansion velocities we constrain the mass of the ejecta to be ~2 Msun, the explosion energy to be E= 6-10 x 10^50 erg, and the 56Ni mass …
We present 1-D non-Local-Thermodynamic-Equilibrium time-dependent radiative-transfer simulations for supernovae (SNe) of type IIb, Ib, and Ic that result from the terminal explosion of the mass donor in a close-binary system. Here, we select three ejecta with a total kinetic energy of ~1.2e51erg, but characterised by different ejecta masses (2-5Msun), composition, and chemical mixing. The type IIb/Ib models correspond to the progenitors that have retained their He-rich shell at the time of explosion. The type Ic model arises from a progenitor that has lost its helium shell, but retains 0.32Msu…
We perform binary stellar evolutionary calculations following the simultaneous evolution of both stars in the system to study a potential progenitor system for the Type IIb supernova 2011dh. Pre-explosion photometry as well as light-curve modeling have provided constraints on the physical properties of the progenitor system. Here we present a close binary system that is compatible with such constraints. The system is formed by stars of solar composition with 16 Msun + 10 Msun on a circular orbit with an initial period of 125 days. The primary star ends its evolution as a yellow supergiant with…
ASASSN-18am/SN 2018gk is a newly discovered member of the rare group of luminous, hydrogen-rich supernovae (SNe) with a peak absolute magnitude of $M_V \approx -20$ mag that is in between normal core-collapse SNe and superluminous SNe. These SNe show no prominent spectroscopic signatures of ejecta interacting with circumstellar material (CSM), and their powering mechanism is debated. ASASSN-18am declines extremely rapidly for a Type II SN, with a photospheric-phase decline rate of $\sim6.0~\rm mag~(100 d)^{-1}$. Owing to the weakening of HI and the appearance of HeI in its later phases, ASASSN…
Optical observations of the type IIb SN 2013df from a few days to about 250 days after explosion are presented. These observations are complemented with UV photometry taken by \textit{SWIFT} up to 60 days post-explosion. The double-peak optical light curve is similar to those of SNe 1993J and 2011fu although with different decline and rise rates. From the modelling of the bolometric light curve, we have estimated that the total mass of synthesised $^{56}$Ni in the explosion is $\sim0.1$ M$_{\odot}$, while the ejecta mass is $0.8-1.4$ M$_{\odot}$ and the explosion energy $0.4-1.2 \times 10^{51}…
We present Hubble Space Telescope WFC3/IR images of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant that survey its high-velocity, S-rich debris in the NE jet and SW counterjet regions through [S III] 9069, 9531 and [S II] 10,287 - 10,370 line emissions. We identify nearly 3400 sulfur emitting knots concentrated in ~120 degree wide opposing streams, almost triple the number previously known. The vast majority of these ejecta knots lie at projected distances well out ahead of the remnant's forward blast wave and main shell ejecta, extending to angular distance of 320" to the NE and 260" to the SW from the c…
The nature of the peculiar `Ca-rich' SN 2019ehk in the nearby galaxy M100 remains unclear. Its origin has been debated as either a stripped core-collapse supernova or a thermonuclear helium detonation event. Here, we present very late-time photometry of the transient obtained with the Keck I telescope at $\approx280$ days from peak light. Using the photometry to perform accurate flux calibration of a contemporaneous nebular phase spectrum, we measure an [O I] luminosity of $(0.19-1.08)\times10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and [Ca II] luminosity of $(2.7-15.6)\times10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$ over the range of…
SN 2016gkg is a nearby Type IIb supernova discovered shortly after explosion. Like several other Type IIb events with early-time data, SN 2016gkg displays a double-peaked light curve, with the first peak associated with the cooling of a low-mass extended progenitor envelope. We present unprecedented intranight-cadence multi-band photometric coverage of the first light-curve peak of SN 2016gkg obtained from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope network, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, the Swift satellite and various amateur-operated telescopes. Fitting these data to an…
Radio Constraints on the Circumstellar Environment of the Type IIb Supernova SN 2024iss
Mizusawa VLBI Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan（水泽VLBI观测站，日本国立天文台）；Astronomical Science Program, Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI（先进研究生院天文学项目，SOKENDAI）；Department of Earth Science and Astronomy, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo（东京大学大学院人文社会系研究科地球行星科学专攻）；Department of Physics, National Chung Hsing University（国立中兴大学物理系）；Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica（中央研究院天文及天文物理研究所）；The Research Institute for Time Studies, Yamaguchi University（山口大学时计学研究所以）；Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University（山口大学创新理工学研究科）；Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University（京都大学宇宙学前沿中心天文学专攻）
The inverse-Compton X-ray emission model for supernovae has been well established to explain the X-ray properties of many supernovae for over 30 years. However, no observational case has yet been found to connect the X-rays with the optical lights as they should be. Here, we report the discovery of a hard X-ray source that is associated with a Type II-b supernova. Simultaneous emission enhancements have been found in both the X-ray and optical light curves twenty days after the supernova explosion. While the enhanced X-rays are likely dominated by inverse-Compton scatterings of the supernova's…
The progenitors of hydrogen-poor core-collapse supernovae (SNe) of types Ib, Ic and IIb are believed to have shed their outer hydrogen envelopes either by extremely strong stellar winds, characteristic of classical Wolf-Rayet stars, or by binary interaction with a close companion star. The exact nature of the progenitors and the relative importance of these processes are still open questions. One relatively unexplored method to constrain the progenitors is to search for high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXB) at SN locations in pre-explosion X-ray observations. In a HMXB, one star has already exploded…
We present the UV, optical, X-ray, and radio properties of the Type IIb SN 2008ax discovered in NGC 4490. The observations in the UV are one of the earliest of a Type IIb supernova (SN). On approximately day four after the explosion, a dramatic upturn in the u and uvw1 (lambda_c = 2600 Angstroms) light curves occurred after an initial rapid decline which is attributed to adiabatic cooling after the initial shock breakout. This rapid decline and upturn is reminiscent of the Type IIb SN 1993J on day six after the explosion. Optical/near-IR spectra taken around the peak reveal prominent H-alpha, …
Using the largest spectroscopic dataset of stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae (stripped SNe), we present a systematic investigation of spectral properties of Type IIb SNe (SNe IIb), Type Ib SNe (SNe Ib), and Type Ic SNe (SNe Ic). Prior studies have been based on individual objects or small samples. Here, we analyze 227 spectra of 14 SNe IIb, 258 spectra of 21 SNe Ib, and 207 spectra of 17 SNe Ic based on the stripped SN dataset of Modjaz et al. (2014) and other published spectra of individual SNe. Each SN in our sample has a secure spectroscopic ID, a date of $V$-band maximum light, an…
Supernova remnants (SNRs) are diffuse extended sources characterized by a complex morphology and a non-uniform distribution of ejecta. Such a morphology reflects pristine structures and features of the progenitor supernova (SN) and the early interaction of the SN blast wave with the inhomogeneous circumstellar medium (CSM). Deciphering the observations of SNRs might open the possibility to investigate the physical properties of both the interacting ejecta and the shocked CSM. This requires accurate numerical models which describe the evolution from the SN explosion to the remnant development a…
