The Dusty Red Supergiant Progenitor and the Local Environment of the Type II SN 2023ixf in M101

Abstract

As one of the closest supernovae (SNe) in the last decade, SN 2023ixf is an unprecedented target to investigate the progenitor star that exploded. However, there is still significant uncertainty in the reported progenitor properties. In this work, we present a detailed study of SN 2023ixf’s progenitor with two independent analyses. We first modeled its spectral energy distribution (SED) based on Hubble Space Telescope optical, Spitzer mid-infrared (IR), and ground-based near-IR data. We find that stellar pulsation and circumstellar extinction have great impacts on SED fitting, and the result suggests a relatively massive red supergiant surrounded by C-rich dust with an initial mass of 16.2–17.4 M ⊙. The corresponding rate of mass loss occurring at least 3 yr before the SN explosion is about 2 × 10−4 M ⊙ yr−1. We also derived the star formation history of the SN environment based on resolved stellar populations, and the most recent star-forming epoch corresponds to a progenitor initial mass of 17–19 M ⊙, in agreement with that from our SED fitting. Therefore, we conclude that the progenitor of SN 2023ixf is close to the high-mass end for Type II SN progenitors.

SN 2023ixf in Messier 101: The Twilight Years of the Progenitor as Seen by Pan-STARRS

“…To constrain the properties of the progenitor of SN 2023ixf, SEDs of the progenitor are presented by a number of authors (e.g., Jencson et al 2023;Kilpatrick et al 2023;Neustadt et al 2024;Niu et al 2023;Soraisam et al 2023;Xiang et al 2024). Detections in Spitzer channel 1 and channel 2, MMT J, Gemini/NIRI J, UKIRT JHK, and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) F814W and F675W are used here.…”

“…The discovery of SN 2023ixf led to a sustained spectroscopic and photometric follow-up effort (e.g., Berger et al 2023;Bostroem et al 2023;Jacobson-Galán et al 2023;Sgro et al 2023;Smith et al 2023). To date, these multiwavelength follow-up observations and archival data examination have revealed detections of a dusty RSG progenitor and signatures of interaction with circumstellar material (e.g., Berger et al 2023;Bostroem et al 2023;Grefenstette et al 2023;Guetta et al 2023;Hiramatsu et al 2023;Jacobson-Galán et al 2023;Jencson et al 2023;Kilpatrick et al 2023;Koenig 2023;Kong 2023;Li et al 2023;Neustadt et al 2024;Niu et al 2023;Panjkov et al 2023;Pledger & Shara 2023;Qin et al 2023;Sarmah 2023;Singh Teja et al 2023;Smith et al 2023;Soraisam et al 2023;Van Dyk et al 2023;Vasylyev et al 2023;Xiang et al 2024;Yamanaka et al 2023;Zhang et al 2023).…”

Chandra’s Insights into SN 2023ixf

“…The preexplosion images have revealed the progenitor star to be a red supergiant in a dusty region (Jencson et al 2023;Kilpatrick et al 2023;Soraisam et al 2023;Van Dyk et al 2023). Several groups have constrained the mass of the progenitor, which have resulted so far in a large mass range within 8-20 M e (Jencson et al 2023;Kilpatrick et al 2023;Niu et al 2023;Pledger & Shara 2023;Soraisam et al 2023).…”

“…Soraisam et al (2023) found a mass-loss rate of (2-4) × 10 −4 M e yr −1 using 19 yr of archival IR data, which was also obtained by Grefenstette et al (2023) in their X-ray NuSTAR measurements. On the lower end, Jencson et al (2023) and Niu et al (2023) estimated it to be (3-30) × 10 −5 M e yr −1 , and 10 −5 M e yr −1 , respectively, in 3-20 yr before explosion. The metallicity has ranged between half the solar (Niu et al 2023) to solar (Van Dyk et al 2023;Zimmerman et al 2023).…”

“…On the lower end, Jencson et al (2023) and Niu et al (2023) estimated it to be (3-30) × 10 −5 M e yr −1 , and 10 −5 M e yr −1 , respectively, in 3-20 yr before explosion. The metallicity has ranged between half the solar (Niu et al 2023) to solar (Van Dyk et al 2023;Zimmerman et al 2023).…”