Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Julianne J. Dalcanton

Publications and source records attributed to Julianne J. Dalcanton.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

KPM: A Flexible and Data-Driven K-Process Model for Nucleosynthesis

The element abundance pattern found in Milky Way disk stars is close to two-dimensional, dominated by production from one prompt process and one delayed process. This simplicity is remarkable, since the elements are produced by a multitude of nucleosynthesis mechanisms operating in stars with a wide range of progenitor masses. We fit the abundances of 14 elements for 48,659 red-giant stars from APOGEE DR17 using a flexible, data-driven K-process model -- dubbed KPM. In our fiducial model, with $K=2$, each abundance in each star is described as the sum of a prompt and a delayed process contribution. We find that KPM with $K=2$ is able to explain the abundances well, recover the observed abundance bimodality, and detect the bimodality over a greater range in metallicity than previously has been possible. We compare to prior work by Weinberg et al. (2022), finding that KPM produces similar results, but that KPM better predicts stellar abundances, especially for elements C+N and Mn and for stars at super-solar metallicities. The model fixes the relative contribution of the prompt and delayed process to two elements to break degeneracies and improve interpretability; we find that some of the nucleosynthetic implications are dependent upon these detailed choices. We find that moving to four processes adds flexibility and improves the model's ability to predict the stellar abundances, but doesn't qualitatively change the story. The results of KPM will help us to interpret and constrain the formation of the Galaxy disk, the relationship between abundances and ages, and the physics of nucleosynthesis.

astro-ph.GA↗

Dissecting the Gaia HR diagram II. The vertical structure of the star formation history across the Solar Cylinder

Starting from the Gaia DR3 HR diagram, we derive the star formation history (SFH) as a function of distance from the Galactic Plane within a cylinder centred on the Sun with a 200~pc radius and spanning 1.3~kpc above and below the Galaxy's midplane. We quantify both the concentration of the more recent star formation in the Galactic Plane, and the age-related increase in the scale height of the Galactic Disc stellar component, which is well-described by power-laws with indices ranging from $1/2$ to $2/3$. The vertically-integrated star formation rate falls from $(1.147 \pm 0.039)\times10^{-8}\, \text{M}_{\odot} \text{yr}^{-1} \text{pc}^{-2}$ at earlier times down to $(6.2 \pm 3.0) \times10^{-9}\, \text{M}_{\odot} \text{yr}^{-1} \text{pc}^{-2}$ at present times, but we find a significant peak of star formation in the 2 to 3 Gyr age bin. The total mass of stars formed per unit area over time is $118.7 \pm 6.2\, \text{M}_{\odot} \text{pc}^{-2}$, which is nearly twice the present stellar mass derived from kinematics within 1~kpc from the Galactic Plane, implying a high degree of matter recycling in successive generations of stars. The method is then modified by adopting an age-dependent correlation between the SFH across the different slices, which results in less noisy and more symmetrical results without significantly changing the previously mentioned quantities. This appears to be a promising way to improve SFH recovery in external galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER). V. The Structure of M33 in Resolved Stellar Populations

We present a detailed analysis of the the structure of the Local Group flocculent spiral galaxy M33, as measured using the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER) survey. Leveraging the multiwavelength coverage of PHATTER, we find that the oldest populations are dominated by a smooth exponential disk with two distinct spiral arms and a classical central bar $-$ completely distinct from what is seen in broadband optical imaging, and the first-ever confirmation of a bar in M33. We estimate a bar extent of $\sim$1 kpc. The two spiral arms are asymmetric in orientation and strength, and likely represent the innermost impact of the recent tidal interaction responsible for M33's warp at larger scales. The flocculent multi-armed morphology for which M33 is known is only visible in the young upper main sequence population, which closely tracks the morphology of the ISM. We investigate the stability of M33's disk, finding $Q{\sim}1$ over the majority of the disk. We fit multiple components to the old stellar density distribution and find that, when considering recent stellar kinematics, M33's bulk structure favors the inclusion of an accreted halo component, modeled as a broken power-law. The best-fit halo model has an outer power-law index of $-$3 and accurately describes observational evidence of M33's stellar halo from both resolved stellar spectroscopy in the disk and its stellar populations at large radius. Integrating this profile yields a total halo stellar mass of ${\sim}5{\times}10^8\ M_{\odot}$, giving a total stellar halo mass fraction of 16%, most of which resides in the innermost 2.5 kpc.

astro-ph.GA↗

The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury XXI. The Legacy Resolved Stellar Photometry Catalog

We present the final legacy version of stellar photometry for the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey. We have reprocessed all of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) near ultraviolet (F275W, F336W), optical (F475W, F814W), and near infrared (F110W, F160W) imaging from the PHAT survey using an improved method that optimized the survey depth and chip gap coverage by including all overlapping exposures in all bands in the photometry. An additional improvement was gained through the use of charge transfer efficiency (CTE) corrected input images, which provide more complete star finding as well as more reliable photometry for the NUV bands, which had no CTE correction in the previous version of the PHAT photometry. While this method requires significantly more computing resources and time than earlier versions where the photometry was performed on individual pointings, it results in smaller systematic instrumental completeness variations as demonstrated by cleaner maps in stellar density, and it results in optimal constraints on stellar fluxes in all bands from the survey data. Our resulting catalog has 138 million stars, 18% more than the previous catalog, with lower density regions gaining as much as 40% more stars. The new catalog produces nearly seamless population maps which show relatively well-mixed distributions for populations associated with ages older than 1-2 Gyr, and highly structured distributions for the younger populations.

astro-ph.GA↗

RomAndromeda: The Roman Survey of the Andromeda Halo

As our nearest large neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy provides a unique laboratory for investigating galaxy formation and the distribution and substructure properties of dark matter in a Milky Way-like galaxy. Here, we propose an initial 2-epoch ($Δt\approx 5$yr), 2-band Roman survey of the entire halo of Andromeda, covering 500 square degrees, which will detect nearly every red giant star in the halo (10$σ$ detection in F146, F062 of 26.5, 26.1AB mag respectively) and yield proper motions to $\sim$25 microarcsec/year (i.e., $\sim$90 km/s) for all stars brighter than F146 $\approx 23.6$ AB mag (i.e., reaching the red clump stars in the Andromeda halo). This survey will yield (through averaging) high-fidelity proper motions for all satellites and compact substructures in the Andromeda halo and will enable statistical searches for clusters in chemo-dynamical space. Adding a third epoch during the extended mission will improve these proper motions by $\sim t^{-1.5}$, to $\approx 11$ km/s, but this requires obtaining the first epoch in Year 1 of Roman operations. In combination with ongoing and imminent spectroscopic campaigns with ground-based telescopes, this Roman survey has the potential to yield full 3-d space motions of $>$100,000 stars in the Andromeda halo, including (by combining individual measurements) robust space motions of its entire globular cluster and most of its dwarf galaxy satellite populations. It will also identify high-velocity stars in Andromeda, providing unique information on the processes that create this population. These data offer a unique opportunity to study the immigration history, halo formation, and underlying dark matter scaffolding of a galaxy other than our own.

astro-ph.GA↗

Origins of the Evil Eye: M64's Stellar Halo Reveals the Recent Accretion of an SMC-mass Satellite

M64, often called the "Evil Eye" galaxy, is unique among local galaxies. Beyond its dramatic, dusty nucleus, it also hosts an outer gas disk that counter-rotates relative to its stars. The mass of this outer disk is comparable to the gas content of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), prompting the idea that it was likely accreted in a recent minor merger. Yet, detailed follow-up studies of M64's outer disk have shown no evidence of such an event, leading to other interpretations, such as a "flyby" interaction with the distant diffuse satellite Coma P. We present Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam observations of M64's stellar halo, which resolve its stellar populations and reveal a spectacular radial shell feature, oriented $\sim$30$^{\circ}$ relative to the major axis and along the rotation axis of the outer gas disk. The shell is $\sim$45 kpc southeast of M64, while a similar but more diffuse plume to the northwest extends to $>$100 kpc. We estimate a stellar mass and metallicity for the southern shell of $M_{\star} {=} 1.80~{\pm}~0.54{\times}10^8~M_{\odot}$ and [M/H] $=$ $-$1.0, respectively, and a similar mass of $1.42~{\pm}~0.71{\times}10^8 M_{\odot}$ for the northern plume. Taking into account the accreted material in M64's inner disk, we estimate a total stellar mass for the progenitor satellite of $M_{\rm \star,prog}~{\simeq}~5{\times}10^8~M_{\odot}$. These results suggest that M64 is in the final stages of a minor merger with a gas-rich satellite strikingly similar to the SMC, in which M64's accreted counter-rotating gas originated, and which is responsible for the formation of its dusty inner star-forming disk.

astro-ph.GA↗

Multiwavelength Characterization of the High Mass X-ray Binary Population of M33

We present multi-wavelength characterization of 65 high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) candidates in M33. We use the Chandra ACIS survey of M33 (ChASeM33) catalog to select hard X-ray point sources that are spatially coincident with UV-bright point source optical counterparts in the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER) catalog, which covers the inner disk of M33 at near infrared, optical, and near ultraviolet wavelengths. We perform spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting on multi-band photometry for each point source optical counterpart to measure its physical properties including mass, temperature, luminosity, and radius. We find that the majority of the HMXB companion star candidates are likely B-type main sequence stars, suggesting that the HMXB population of M33 is dominated by Be-XRBs, as is seen in other Local Group galaxies. We use spatially-resolved recent star formation history (SFH) maps of M33 to measure the age distribution of the HMXB candidate sample and the HMXB production rate for M33. We find a bimodal distribution for the HMXB production rate over the last 80 Myr, with a peak at $\sim$10 Myr and $\sim$40 Myr, which match theoretical formation timescales for the most massive HMXBs and Be X-ray binaries (Be-XRBs), respectively. We measure an HMXB production rate of 107$-$136 HMXBs/(M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$) over the last 50 Myr and 150$-$199 HMXBs/(M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$) over the last 80 Myr. For sources with compact object classifications from overlapping NuSTAR observations, we find a preference for giant/supergiant companion stars in BH-HMXBs and main sequence companion stars in neutron star HMXBs (NS-HMXBs).

astro-ph.HE↗

The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury XX: The Disk of M31 is Thick

We present a new approach to measuring the thickness of a partially face-on stellar disk, using dust geometry. In a moderately-inclined disk galaxy, the fraction of reddened stars is expected to be 50% everywhere, assuming that dust lies in a thin midplane. In a thickened disk, however, a wide range of radii project onto the line of sight. Assuming stellar density declines with radius, this geometrical projection leads to differences in the numbers of stars on the near and far sides of the thin dust layer. The fraction of reddened stars will thus differ from the 50% prediction, with a deviation that becomes larger for puffier disks. We map the fraction of reddened red giant branch (RGB) stars across M31, which shows prominent dust lanes on only one side of the major axis. The fraction of reddened stars varies systematically from 20% to 80%, which requires that these stars have an exponential scale height h_z that is 0.14+/-0.015 times the exponential scale length (h_r~5.5kpc). M31's RGB stars must therefore have h_z=770+/-80pc, which is far thicker than the Milky Way's thin disk, but comparable to its thick disk. The lack of a significant thin disk in M31 is unexpected, but consistent with its interaction history and high disk velocity dispersion. We suggest that asymmetric reddening be used as a generic criteria for identifying ``thick disk'' dominated systems, and discuss prospects for future 3-dimensional tomographic mapping of the gas and stars in M31.

astro-ph.GA↗

The Masses of Supernova Remnant Progenitors in M33

Using resolved optical stellar photometry from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER) survey, we measured the star formation history (SFH) near the position of 85 supernova remnants (SNRs) in M33. We constrained the progenitor masses for 60 of these SNRs, finding the remaining 25 remnants had no local SF in the last 56 Myr consistent with core-collapse SNe (CCSNe), making them potential Type Ia candidates. We then infer a progenitor mass distribution from the age distribution, assuming single star evolution. We find that the progenitor mass distribution is consistent with being drawn from a power-law with an index of $-2.9^{+1.2}_{-1.0}$. Additionally, we infer a minimum progenitor mass of $7.1^{+0.1}_{-0.2}\ M_{\odot}$ from this sample, consistent with several previous studies, providing further evidence that stars with ages older than the lifetimes of single 8 $M_{\odot}$ stars are producing supernovae.

astro-ph.HE↗

A Multiwavelength Classification and Study of Red Supergiant Candidates in NGC 6946

We have combined resolved stellar photometry from Hubble Space Telescope (\emph{HST}), \emph{Spitzer}, and \emph{Gaia} to identify red supergiant (RSG) candidates in NGC~6946, based on their colors, proper motions, visual morphologies, and spectral energy distributions. We start with a large sample of 17,865 RSG candidates based solely on \emph{HST} near-infrared photometry. We then chose a small sample of 385 of these candidates with Spitzer matches for more detailed study. Using evolutionary models and isochrones, we isolate a space where RSGs would be found in our photometry catalogs. We then visually inspect each candidate and compare to Gaia catalogs to identify and remove foreground stars. As a result, we classify 95 potential RSGs, with 40 of these being in our highest-quality sample. We fit the photometry of the populations of stars in the regions surrounding the RSGs to infer their ages. Placing our best candidate RSG stars into three age bins between 1 and 30 Myr, we find 27.5\% of the candidates falling between 1-10 Myr, 37.5\% between 10-20 Myr, and 35\% 20-30 Myr. A comparison of our results to the models of massive star evolution shows some agreement between model luminosities and the luminosities of our candidates for each age. Three of our candidates appear significantly more consistent with binary models than single-star evolution models.

astro-ph.SR↗

The JWST Resolved Stellar Populations Early Release Science Program II. Survey Overview

We present the JWST Resolved Stellar Populations Early Release Science (ERS) science program. We obtained 27.5 hours of NIRCam and NIRISS imaging of three targets in the Local Group (Milky Way globular cluster M92, ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Draco II, star-forming dwarf galaxy WLM), which span factors of $\sim10^5$ in luminosity, $\sim10^4$ in distance, and $\sim10^5$ in surface brightness. We describe the survey strategy, scientific and technical goals, implementation details, present select NIRCam color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), and validate the NIRCam exposure time calculator (ETC). Our CMDs are among the deepest in existence for each class of target. They touch the theoretical hydrogen burning limit in M92 ($<0.08$ $M_{\odot}$; SNR $\sim5$ at $m_{F090W}\sim28.2$; $M_{F090W}\sim+13.6$), include the lowest-mass stars observed outside the Milky Way in Draco II (0.09 $M_{\odot}$; SNR $=10$ at $m_{F090W}\sim29$; $M_{F090W}\sim+12.1$), and reach $\sim1.5$ magnitudes below the oldest main sequence turnoff in WLM (SNR $=10$ at $m_{F090W}\sim29.5$; $M_{F090W}\sim+4.6$). The PARSEC stellar models provide a good qualitative match to the NIRCam CMDs, though are $\sim0.05$ mag too blue compared to M92 F090W$-$F150W data. The NIRCam ETC (v2.0) matches the SNRs based on photon noise from DOLPHOT stellar photometry in uncrowded fields, but the ETC may not be accurate in more crowded fields, similar to what is known for HST. We release beta versions of DOLPHOT NIRCam and NIRISS modules to the community. Results from this ERS program will establish JWST as the premier instrument for resolved stellar populations studies for decades to come.

astro-ph.GA↗

A Panchromatic Study of Massive Stars in the Extremely Metal-Poor Local Group Dwarf Galaxy Leo A

We characterize massive stars (M>8 M_sun) in the nearby (D~0.8 Mpc) extremely metal-poor (Z~5% Z_sun) galaxy Leo A using Hubble Space Telescope ultra-violet (UV), optical, and near-infrared (NIR) imaging along with Keck/LRIS and MMT/Binospec optical spectroscopy for 18 main sequence OB stars. We find that: (a) 12 of our 18 stars show emission lines, despite not being associated with an H II region, suggestive of stellar activity (e.g., mass loss, accretion, binary star interaction), which is consistent with previous predictions of enhanced activity at low metallicity; (b) 6 are Be stars, which are the first to be spectroscopically studied at such low metallicity -- these Be stars have unusual panchromatic SEDs; (c) for stars well-fit by the TLUSTY non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) models, the photometric and spectroscopic values of T_eff and log(g) agree to within ~0.01 dex and ~0.18 dex, respectively, indicating that NUV/optical/NIR imaging can be used to reliably characterize massive (M ~ 8-30 M_sun) main sequence star properties relative to optical spectroscopy; (d) the properties of the most massive stars in H II regions are consistent with constraints from previous nebular emission line studies; and (e) 13 stars with M>8 M_sun are >40 pc from a known star cluster or H II region. Our sample comprises ~50% of all known massive stars at Z < 10% Z_sun with derived stellar parameters, high-quality optical spectra, and panchromatic photometry.

astro-ph.SR↗

The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER). IV. Star Cluster Catalog

We construct a catalog of star clusters from Hubble Space Telescope images of the inner disk of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) using image classifications collected by the Local Group Cluster Search, a citizen science project hosted on the Zooniverse platform. We identify 1214 star clusters within the Hubble Space Telescope imaging footprint of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER) survey. Comparing this catalog to existing compilations in the literature, 68% of the clusters are newly identified. The final catalog includes multi-band aperture photometry and fits for cluster properties via integrated light SED fitting. The cluster catalog's 50% completeness limit is ~1500 solar masses at an age of 100 Myr, as derived from comprehensive synthetic cluster tests.

astro-ph.GA↗

The Spectroscopy and H-band Imaging of Virgo cluster galaxies (SHIVir) Survey: Data Catalogue and Kinematic Profiles

The ``Spectroscopy and H-band Imaging of Virgo cluster galaxies'' (SHIVir) survey is an optical and near-infrared survey which combines SDSS photometry, deep H-band photometry, and long-slit optical spectroscopy for 190 Virgo cluster galaxies (VCGs) covering all morphological types over the stellar mass range log (M_*/M_Sun) = 7.8-11.5$. We present the spectroscopic sample selection, data reduction, and analysis for this SHIVir sample. We have used and optimised the \texttt{pPXF} routine to extract stellar kinematics from our data. Ultimately, resolved kinematic profiles (rotation curves and velocity dispersion profiles) are available for 133 SHIVir galaxies. A comprehensive database of photometric and kinematic parameters for the SHIVir sample is presented with: grizH magnitudes, effective surface brightnesses, effective and isophotal radii, rotational velocities, velocity dispersions, and stellar and dynamical masses. Parameter distributions highlight some bimodal distributions and possible sample biases. A qualitative study of resolved extended velocity dispersion profiles suggests a link between the so-called ``sigma-drop'' kinematic profile and the presence of rings in lenticular S0 galaxies. Rising dispersion profiles are linked to early-type spirals or dwarf ellipticals for which a rotational component is significant, whereas peaked profiles are tied to featureless giant ellipticals.

astro-ph.GA↗

The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER) II. The Spatially Resolved Recent Star Formation History of M33

We measure the spatially resolved recent star formation history (SFH) of M33 using optical images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER) survey. The area covered by the observations used in this analysis covers a de-projected area of $\sim$38 kpc$^{2}$ and extends to $\sim$3.5 and $\sim$2 kpc from the center of M33 along the major and semi-major axes, respectively. We divide the PHATTER optical survey into 2005 regions that measure 24 arcsec, $\sim$100 pc, on a side and fit color magnitude diagrams for each region individually to measure the spatially resolved SFH of M33 within the PHATTER footprint. There are significant fluctuations in the SFH on small spatial scales and also galaxy-wide scales that we measure back to about 630 Myr ago. We observe a more flocculent spiral structure in stellar populations younger than about 80 Myr, while the structure of the older stellar populations is dominated by two spiral arms. We also observe a bar in the center of M33, which dominates at ages older than about 80 Myr. Finally, we find that the mean star formation rate (SFR) over the last 100 Myr within the PHATTER footprint is 0.32$\pm$0.02 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. We measure a current SFR (over the last 10 Myr) of 0.20$\pm$0.03 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. This SFR is slightly higher than previous measurements from broadband estimates, when scaled to account for the fraction of the D25 area covered by the PHATTER survey footprint.

astro-ph.GA↗

The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER). III. The Mass Function of Young Star Clusters in M33

We measure the star cluster mass function for the Local Group galaxy M33. We use the catalog of stellar clusters selected from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER) survey. We analyze 711 clusters in M33 with $\rm 7.0 < log(Age/yr) < 8.5$, and log($M/M_{\odot}$) $>$ 3.0 as determined from color-magnitude diagram fits to individual stars. The M33 cluster mass function is best described by a Schechter function with power law slope $α= -2.06^{+0.14}_{-0.13}$, and truncation mass log($M_c/M_{\odot}$) $= 4.24^{+0.16}_{-0.13}$. The data show strong evidence for a high-mass truncation, thus strongly favoring a Schechter function fit over a pure power law. M33's truncation mass is consistent with the previously identified linear trend between $M_c$, and star formation rate surface density, \SigSFR. We also explore the effect that individual cluster mass uncertainties have on derived mass function parameters, and find evidence to suggest that large cluster mass uncertainties have the potential to bias the truncation mass of fitted mass functions on the one sigma level.

astro-ph.GA↗

The TREX Survey: Kinematical Complexity Throughout M33's Stellar Disk and Evidence for a Stellar Halo

We present initial results from a large spectroscopic survey of stars throughout M33's stellar disk. We analyze a sample of 1667 red giant branch (RGB) stars extending to projected distances of $\sim 11$ kpc from M33's center ($\sim 18$ kpc, or $\sim 10$ scale lengths, in the plane of the disk). The line-of-sight velocities of RGB stars show the presence of two kinematical components. One component is consistent with rotation in the plane of M33's HI disk and has a velocity dispersion ($\sim 19$ km s$^{-1}$) consistent with that observed in a comparison sample of younger stars, while the second component has a significantly higher velocity dispersion. A two-component fit to the RGB velocity distribution finds that the high dispersion component has a velocity dispersion of $59.3^{+2.6}_{-2.5}$ km s$^{-1}$ and rotates very slowly in the plane of the disk (consistent with no rotation at the $<1.5σ$ level), which favors interpreting it as a stellar halo rather than a thick disk population. A spatial analysis indicates that the fraction of RGB stars in the high-velocity-dispersion component decreases with increasing radius over the range covered by the spectroscopic sample. Our spectroscopic sample establishes that a significant high-velocity-dispersion component is present in M33's RGB population from near M33's center to at least the radius where M33's HI disk begins to warp at 30$'$ ($\sim 7.5$ kpc) in the plane of the disk. This is the first detection and spatial characterization of a kinematically hot stellar component throughout M33's inner regions.

astro-ph.GA↗

Progenitor Mass Distribution for 22 Historic Core-Collapse Supernovae

We infer the progenitor mass distribution for 22 historic core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) using a Bayesian hierarchical model. For this inference, we use the local star formation histories to estimate the age for each supernova (SN). These star formation histories often show multiple bursts of star formation; our model assumes that one burst is associated with the SN progenitor and the others are random bursts of star formation. The primary inference is the progenitor age distribution. Due to the limited number of historic SNe and highly uncertain star formation at young ages, we restrict our inference to the slope of the age distribution and the maximum age for CCSNe. Using single-star evolutionary models, we transform the progenitor age distribution into a progenitor mass distribution. Under these assumptions, the minimum mass for CCSNe is ${M_\textrm{min}}~=~8.60^{+0.37}_{-0.41} \ M_\odot$ and the slope of the progenitor mass distribution is $α= -2.61^{+1.05}_{-1.18}$. The power-law slope for the progenitor mass distribution is consistent with the standard Salpeter initial mass function ($α= -2.35$). These values are consistent with previous estimates using precursor imaging and the age-dating technique, further confirming that using stellar populations around SN and supernova remnants is a reliable way to infer the progenitor masses.

astro-ph.HE↗