Constraints on the Progenitor of SN 2016gkg from Its Shock-cooling Light Curve Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Abstract SN 2016gkg is a nearby SN IIb discovered shortly after explosion. Like several other TypeIIb events with early-time data, SN 2016gkg displays a double-peaked light curve, with the first peak associated with the cooling of a low-mass extended progenitor envelope. We present unprecedented intranight-cadence multi-band photometric coverage of the first light curve peak of SN 2016gkg obtained from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope network, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, the Swift satellite, and various amateur-operated telescopes. Fitting these data to analytical shock-cooling models gives a progenitor radius of 40150 with 240102 of material in the extended envelope (depending on the model and the assumed host-galaxy extinction). Our radius estimates are broadly consistent with values derived independently (in other works) from HST imaging of the progenitor star. However, the shock-cooling model radii are on the lower end of the values indicated by pre-explosion imaging. Hydrodynamical simulations could refine the progenitor parameters deduced from the shock-cooling emission and test the analytical models.

published proceedings

  • ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS

altmetric score

  • 10

author list (cited authors)

  • Arcavi, I., Hosseinzadeh, G., Brown, P. J., Smartt, S. J., Valenti, S., Tartaglia, L., ... Bishop, D.

citation count

  • 59

complete list of authors

  • Arcavi, Iair||Hosseinzadeh, Griffin||Brown, Peter J||Smartt, Stephen J||Valenti, Stefano||Tartaglia, Leonardo||Piro, Anthony L||Sanchez, Jose L||Nicholls, Brent||Monard, Berto LAG||Howell, D Andrew||McCully, Curtis||Sand, David J||Tonry, John||Denneau, Larry||Stalder, Brian||Heinze, Ari||Rest, Armin||Smith, Ken W||Bishop, David

publication date

  • March 2017