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arXiv · 1403.7288

iPTF13bvn: The First Evidence of a Binary Progenitor for a Type Ib Supernova

Melina C. Bersten·Omar G. Benvenuto·Gaston Folatelli·Ken'ichi Nomoto·Hanindyo Kuncarayakti·Shubham Srivastav·G. C. Anupama·Robert Quimby·Devendra K. Sahu
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Abstract

The recent detection in archival HST images of an object at the the location of supernova (SN) iPTF13bvn may represent the first direct evidence of the progenitor of a Type Ib SN. The object's photometry was found to be compatible with a Wolf-Rayet pre-SN star mass of ~11 Msun. However, based on hydrodynamical models we show that the progenitor had a pre-SN mass of ~3.5 Msun and that it could not be larger than ~8 Msun. We propose an interacting binary system as the SN progenitor and perform evolutionary calculations that are able to self-consistently explain the light-curve shape, the absence of hydrogen, and the pre-SN photometry. We further discuss the range of allowed binary systems and predict that the remaining companion is a luminous O-type star of significantly lower flux in the optical than the pre-SN object. A future detection of such star may be possible and would provide the first robust identification of a progenitor system for a Type Ib SN.

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Melina C. Bersten, Omar G. Benvenuto, Gaston Folatelli, Ken'ichi Nomoto, Hanindyo Kuncarayakti, Shubham Srivastav, G. C. Anupama, Robert Quimby, Devendra K. Sahu. 2014-03-28. iPTF13bvn: The First Evidence of a Binary Progenitor for a Type Ib Supernova. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/148/4/68

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