The Type II-plateau Supernova 2017eaw in NGC 6946 and Its Red Supergiant Progenitor

Schuyler D. Van Dyk, Weikang Zheng, Justyn R. Maund, Thomas G. Brink, Sundar Srinivasan, Jennifer E. Andrews, Nathan Smith, Douglas C. Leonard, Viktoriya Morozova, Alexei V. Filippenko, Brody Conner, Dan Milisavljevic, Thomas De Jaeger, Knox S. Long, Howard Isaacson, Ian J.M. Crossfield, Molly R. Kosiarek, Andrew W. Howard, Ori D. Fox, Patrick L. KellyAnthony L. Piro, Stuart P. Littlefair, Vik S. Dhillon, Richard Wilson, Timothy Butterley, Sameen Yunus, Sanyum Channa, Benjamin T. Jeffers, Edward Falcon, Timothy W. Ross, Julia C. Hestenes, Samantha M. Stegman, Keto Zhang, Sahana Kumar

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Abstract

We present extensive optical photometric and spectroscopic observations, from 4 to 482 days after explosion, of the Type II-plateau (II-P) supernova (SN) 2017eaw in NGC 6946. SN 2017eaw is a normal SN II-P intermediate in properties between, for example, SN 1999em and SN 2012aw and the more luminous SN 2004et, also in NGC 6946. We have determined that the extinction to SN 2017eaw is primarily due to the Galactic foreground and that the SN site metallicity is likely subsolar. We have also independently confirmed a tip-of-the-red-giant-branch (TRGB) distance to NGC 6946 of 7.73 ±; 0.78 Mpc. The distances to the SN that we have also estimated via both the standardized candle method and expanding photosphere method corroborate the TRGB distance. We confirm the SN progenitor identity in pre-explosion archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Spitzer Space Telescope images, via imaging of the SN through our HST Target of Opportunity program. Detailed modeling of the progenitor's spectral energy distribution indicates that the star was a dusty, luminous red supergiant consistent with an initial mass of ∼15 M o.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number136
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume875
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 20 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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