1302.2633 (E. O. Ofek et al.)

An outburst from a massive star 40 days before a supernova explosion    [PDF]

E. O. Ofek, M. Sullivan, S. B. Cenko, M. M. Kasliwal, A. Gal-Yam, S. R. Kulkarni, I. Arcavi, L. Bildsten, J. S. Bloom, A. Horesh, D. A. Howell, A. V. Filippenko, R. Laher, D. Murray, E. Nakar, P. E. Nugent, J. M. Silverman, N. J. Shaviv, J. Surace, O. Yaron

Various lines of evidence suggest that very massive stars experience extreme mass-loss episodes shortly before they explode as a supernova. Interestingly, several models predict such pre-explosion outbursts. Establishing a causal connection between these mass-loss episodes and the final supernova explosion will provide a novel way to study pre-supernova massive-star evolution. Here we report on observations of a remarkable mass-loss event detected 40 days prior to the explosion of the Type IIn supernova SN 2010mc (PTF 10tel). Our photometric and spectroscopic data suggest that this event is a result of an energetic outburst, radiating at least 6x10^47 erg of energy, and releasing about 0.01 Solar mass at typical velocities of 2000 km/s. We show that the temporal proximity of the mass-loss outburst and the supernova explosion implies a causal connection between them. Moreover, we find that the outburst luminosity and velocity are consistent with the predictions of the wave-driven pulsation model and disfavor alternative suggestions.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.2633