SN 2014C was an unprecedented supernova (SN) that displayed a metamorphosis from Type Ib to Type IIn over $\sim$200 days. This transformation is consistent with a helium star having exploded in a cavity surrounded by a dense shell of the progenitor's stripped hydrogen envelope. For at least 5 years post-explosion, the ejecta continued to interact with an outer, extended component of circumstellar medium (CSM) that was ejected even before the dense shell. It is still unclear, however, what kind of progenitor could have undergone such a complicated mass-loss history before it produced this peculiar SN. In this paper, we report a new analysis of SN 2014C's host star cluster based on data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). By carefully fitting its spectral energy distribution (SED), we derive a precise cluster age of 20.0$^{+3.5}_{-2.6}$ Myr, which corresponds to the progenitor's lifetime assuming coevolution. Combined with binary stellar evolution models, we find that SN 2014C's progenitor may have been an $\sim$11-$M_\odot$ star in a relatively wide binary system. The progenitor's envelope was partially stripped by Case C or Case BC mass transfer via binary interaction, followed by a violent eruption that ejected the last hydrogen layer before terminal explosion. Thus, SN 2014C, in common with SNe 2006jc and 2015G, may be a third example that violent eruptions, with mass-loss rates matching luminous blue variable (LBV) giant eruptions, can also occur in much lower-mass massive stars if their envelopes are partially or completely stripped in interacting binaries.
Type Ibn supernovae (SNe Ibn) are intriguing stellar explosions whose spectra exhibit narrow helium lines with little hydrogen. They trace the presence of circumstellar material (CSM) formed via pre-SN eruptions of their stripped-envelope progenitors. Early work has generally assumed that SNe Ibn come from massive Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars via single star evolution. In this paper, we report ultraviolet (UV) and optical observations of two nearby Type Ibn SNe 2006jc and 2015G conducted with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) at late times. A point source is detected at the position of SN 2006jc, and …
A three-dimensional numerical experiment of the launching of a hot and fast coronal jet followed by several violent eruptions is analyzed in detail. These events are initiated through the emergence of a magnetic flux rope from the solar interior into a coronal hole. We explore the evolution of the emerging magnetically-dominated plasma dome surmounted by a current sheet and the ensuing pattern of reconnection. A hot and fast coronal jet with inverted-Y shape is produced that shows properties comparable to those frequently observed with EUV and X-Ray detectors. We analyze its 3D shape, its inho…
This paper discusses a model where a violent periastron collision of stars in an eccentric binary system induces an eruption or explosion seen as a brief transient source, attributed to LBVs, SN impostors, or other transients. The key ingredient is that an evolved primary increases its photospheric radius on relatively short timescales, to a point where the radius is comparable to or larger than the periastron separation in an eccentric binary. In such a configuration, a violent and sudden collision would ensue, possibly leading to substantial mass ejection instead of a binary merger. Repeated…
We argue that NSV 11749, an eruption observed in the early twentieth century, was a rare event known as "very late thermal pulse" (VLTP). To support our argument we compare the lightcurve of NSV 11749 with those of the two bonafide VLTP objects known to date, V4334 Sgr and V605 Aql, and with those predicted by state of the art stellar evolution models. Next, we explore the IPHAS and 2MASS catalogues for possible counterparts of the eruption. Our analysis shows that the VLTP scenario outperforms all other proposed scenarios as an explanation of NSV 11749. We identify an IPHAS/2MASS source at th…
We analyse photometric observations of the supernova (SN) impostor SN 2000ch in NGC 3432 covering the time since its discovery. This source was previously observed to have four outbursts in 2000-2010. Observations now reveal at least three additional outbursts in 2004-2007, and sixteen outbursts in 2010-2022. Outburst light curves are irregular and multipeaked, exhibiting a wide variety of peak magnitude, duration, and shape. The outbursts after 2008 repeat with a period of 200.7$\pm{2}$ d, while the outburst in 2000 seems to match with a shorter period. The next outburst should occur around J…
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and eruptive flares (EFs) are the most energetic explosions in the solar system. Their underlying origin is the free energy that builds up slowly in the sheared magnetic field of a filament channel. We report the first end-to-end numerical simulation of a CME/EF, from zero-free-energy initial state through filament-channel formation to violent eruption, driven solely by the magnetic-helicity condensation process. Helicity is the topological measure of linkages between magnetic flux systems, and is conserved in the corona, building up inexorably until it is ejected…
Over the past 40 years, the massive LBV/WR system HD 5980 in the Small Magellanic Cloud has undergone a long-term S Doradus type variability cycle and two brief and violent eruptions in 1993 and 1994. In this paper we analyze a collection of UV and optical spectra obtained between 1979 and 2009 and perform CMFGEN model fits to spectra of 1994, 2000, 2002 and 2009. The results are as follows: a) The long term S Dor-type variability is associated with changes of the hydrostatic radius; b) The 1994 eruption involved changes in its bolometric luminosity and wind structure; c) the emission-line str…
The discovery of rapidly rising and fading supernovae powered by circumstellar interaction has suggested the pre-supernova mass eruption phase as a critical phenomenon in massive star evolution. It is important to understand the mass and radial extent of the circumstellar medium (CSM) from theoretically predicted mass ejection mechanisms. In this work, we study the wave heating process in massive hydrogen-poor stars, running a suite of stellar models in order to predict the wave energy and pre-explosion time scale of surface energy deposition. We survey stellar models with main sequence progen…
Stellar mergers are expected to take place in numerous circumstences in the evolution of stellar systems. In particular, they are considered as a plausible origin of stellar eruptions of the V838 Mon type. V1309 Sco is the most recent eruption of this type in our Galaxy. The object was discovered in September 2008. Our aim is to investigate the nature of V1309 Sco. V1309 Sco has been photometrically observed in course of the OGLE project since August 2001. We analyse these observations in different ways. In particular, periodogram analyses were done to investigate the nature of the observed sh…
Every supernova hitherto observed has been considered to be the terminal explosion of a star. Moreover, all supernovae with absorption lines in their spectra show those lines decreasing in velocity over time, as the ejecta expand and thin, revealing slower moving material that was previously hidden. In addition, every supernova that exhibits the absorption lines of hydrogen has one main light-curve peak, or a plateau in luminosity, lasting approximately 100 days before declining. Here we report observations of iPTF14hls, an event that has spectra identical to a hydrogen-rich core-collapse supe…
Eta Carinae is the nearest example of a supermassive, superluminous, unstable star. Mass loss from the system is critical in shaping its circumstellar medium and in determining its ultimate fate. Eta Car currently loses mass via a dense, slow stellar wind and possesses one of the largest mass loss rates known. It is prone to episodes of extreme mass ejection via eruptions from some as-yet unspecified cause; the best examples of this are the large-scale eruptions which occurred in 19th century. Eta Car is a colliding wind binary in which strong variations in X-ray emission and in other waveband…
Our understanding of massive star evolution is in flux, due to recent upheavals in our view of mass loss, and observations of a high binary fraction among O-type stars. Mass-loss rates for standard metallicity-dependent winds of hot stars are now thought to be lower by a factor of 2-3 compared to rates adopted in modern stellar evolution models, due to the influence of clumping. Weaker line-driven winds shift the burden of H-envelope removal elsewhere, so that the dominant modes of mass loss are the winds, pulsations, and eruptions of evolved supergiants, as well as binary mass transfer. Studi…
Both observations and direct numerical simulations are discordant with predictions of conventional stellar evolution codes for the latest stages of a massive star's life prior to core collapse. We suggest that the problem lies in the treatment of turbulent convection in these codes, which ignores finite amplitude fluctuations in velocity and temperature, and their nonlinear interaction with nuclear burning. The hydrodynamic instabilities that may arise prompt us to discuss a number of far-reaching implications for the fates of massive stars. In particular, we explore connections to enhanced pr…
Full velocities and propagation directions of coronal mass ejections inferred from simultaneous full-disk imaging and Sun-as-a-star spectroscopic observations
I summarize what we have learned about the nature of stars that ultimately explode as core-collapse supernovae from the examination of images taken prior to the explosion. By registering pre-supernova and post-supernova images, usually taken at high resolution using either space-based optical detectors, or ground-based infrared detectors equipped with laser guide star adaptive optics systems, nearly three dozen core-collapse supernovae have now had the properties of their progenitor stars either directly measured or (more commonly) constrained by establishing upper limits on their luminosities…
Models of pair-instability supernovae (PISNe) predict a gap in black hole (BH) masses between $\sim 45M_\odot-120M_\odot$, which is referred to as the upper BH mass-gap. With the advent of gravitational-wave astrophysics it has become possible to test this prediction, and there is an important associated effort to understand what theoretical uncertainties modify the boundaries of this gap. In this work we study the impact of rotation on the hydrodynamics of PISNe, which leave no compact remnant, as well as the evolution of pulsational-PISNe (PPISNe), which undergo thermonuclear eruptions befor…
Observations suggest that some massive stars experience violent and eruptive mass loss associated with significant brightening that cannot be explained by hydrostatic stellar models. This event seemingly forms dense circumstellar matter (CSM). The mechanism of eruptive mass loss has not been fully explained. We focus on the fact that the timescale of nuclear burning gets shorter than the dynamical timescale of the envelope a few years before core collapse for some massive stars. To reveal the properties of the eruptive mass loss, we investigate its relation to the energy injection at the botto…
All disc-accreting astrophysical objects produce powerful outflows. In binaries containing neutron stars (NS) or black holes, accretion often takes place during violent outbursts. The main disc wind signatures during these eruptions are blue-shifted X-ray absorption lines, which are preferentially seen in disc-dominated "soft states". By contrast,optical wind-formed lines have recently been detected in "hard states", when a hot corona dominates the luminosity. The relationship between these signatures is unknown, and no erupting system has revealed wind-formed lines between the X-ray and optic…
We present a systematic study of mid-infrared (mid-IR) emission from 141 nearby supernovae (SNe) observed with the InfraRed Array Camera (IRAC) on Spitzer.These SNe reside in one of the 190 galaxies within 20 Mpc drawn from the ongoing SPIRITS program. We detect 8 Type Ia SNe and 36 core-collapse SNe. All Type I SNe become undetectable within 3 years of explosion. About 22$\pm$11% of Type II SNe continue to be detected at late-times. Dust luminosity, temperature, and a lower liit on mass are obtained by fitting the SED using photometry with IRAC bands 1 and 2. The mass estimate does not distin…
We study PTF11mnb, a He-poor supernova (SN) whose pre-peak light curves (LCs) resemble those of SN 2005bf, a peculiar double-peaked stripped-envelope (SE) SN. LCs, colors and spectral properties are compared to those of SN 2005bf and normal SE SNe. A bolometric LC is built and modeled with the SNEC hydrodynamical code explosion of a MESA progenitor star, as well as with semi-analytic models. The LC of PTF11mnb turns out to be similar to that of SN 2005bf until $\sim$50 d, when the main (secondary) peaks occur at $-18.5$ mag. The early peak occurs at $\sim$20 d, and is about 1.0 mag fainter. Af…
