Identifying the SN 2022acko progenitor with JWST

Schuyler D. Van Dyk, K. Azalee Bostroem, Wei Kang Zheng, Thomas G. Brink, Ori D. Fox, Jennifer E. Andrews, Alexei V. Filippenko, Yize Dong, Emily Hoang, Griffin Hosseinzadeh, Daryl Janzen, Jacob E. Jencson, Michael J. Lundquist, Nicolas Meza, Dan Milisavljevic, Jeniveve Pearson, David J. Sand, Manisha Shrestha, Stefano Valenti, D. Andrew Howell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report on analysis using the JWST to identify a candidate progenitor star of the Type II-plateau (II-P) supernova SN 2022acko in the nearby, barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300. To our knowledge, our disco v ery represents the first time JWST has been used to localize a progenitor system in pre-explosion archi v al Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) images. We astrometrically registered a JWST NIRCam image from 2023 January, in which the SN was serendipitously captured, to pre-SN HST F 160 W and F 814 W images from 2017 and 2004, respectively. An object corresponding precisely to the SN position has been isolated with reasonable confidence. That object has a spectral energy distribution (SED) and o v erall luminosity consistent with a single-star model having an initial mass possibly somewhat less than the canonical 8 M _theoretical threshold for core collapse (although masses as high as 9 M ⊙for the star are also possible); ho we ver, the star's SED and luminosity are inconsistent with that of a super-asymptotic giant branch star that might be a forerunner of an electron-capture SN. The properties of the progenitor alone imply that SN 2022acko is a relatively normal SN II-P, albeit most likely a low-luminosity one. The progenitor candidate should be confirmed with follow-up HST imaging at late times, when the SN has sufficiently faded. This potential use of JWST opens a new era of identifying SN progenitor candidates at high spatial resolution.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2186-2194
Number of pages9
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume524
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2023

Keywords

  • stars: e volution -stars: massive -supernovae: general -supernov ae: indi vidual: SN 2022acko

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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