Unveiling the progenitor of SN 2023ixf: Circumstellar dust and its implications for the red supergiant problem
The nearby Type II supernova SN 2023ixf offers a critical test of the long-standing ‘red supergiant problem’ – the apparent absence of high-mass red-supergiant progenitors in pre-explosion imaging. We present new late-time observations of SN 2023ixf: SiFAP2 photometry (714–772 d) with a custom super...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/424335 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/424335 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105030484721 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Stars: mass-loss Stars: massive Supernovae: general |
| Sumario: | The nearby Type II supernova SN 2023ixf offers a critical test of the long-standing ‘red supergiant problem’ – the apparent absence of high-mass red-supergiant progenitors in pre-explosion imaging. We present new late-time observations of SN 2023ixf: SiFAP2 photometry (714–772 d) with a custom supernova calibration, Swift-UVOT detections (788–801 d), and the one of the latest spectroscopic observations beyond 100 days (DOLoRES at 772 d). Combining these with archival data, we obtain two discrepant progenitor-mass estimates: light-curve modelling yields 5.5–14 M, while nebular oxygen mass (∼2.3 M) and other spectroscopic diagnostics point to 17–19 M . We reconcile this tension with a Bayesian Monte-Carlo framework that includes anisotropic circumstellar dust. Our analysis demonstrates that even a modest, clumpy circumstellar medium can produce sufficient extinction to bias luminosity-based masses downwards by ∼9 M . Late-time photometry and spectroscopy further reveal clear signatures of shock interaction with circumstellar material (CSM) shells ejected centuries before explosion. SN 2023ixf thus provides direct evidence that circumstellar obscuration is a major contributor to the apparent lack of massive red-supergiant progenitors, underscoring the need for multi-method, multi-epoch observations for robust progenitor-mass determination. |
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