Red Supergiants as Supernova Progenitors

2025/07/21 by Schuyler D. Van Dyk, Van Dyk, Schuyler D. · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Luminosity #Red supergiant #Spectral energy distribution #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Supergiant #Supernova

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2507.15973

published in arXiv (Cornell University) (Cornell University)

openalex publication_date 2025/07/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

The inevitable fate of massive stars in the initial mass range of ~8--30 M_Sun in the red supergiant (RSG) phase is a core-collapse supernova (SN) explosion, although some stars may collapse directly to a black hole. We know that this is the case, since RSGs have been directly identified and characterized for a number of supernovae (SNe) in pre-explosion archival optical and infrared images. RSGs likely all have some amount of circumstellar matter (CSM), through nominal mass loss, although evidence exists that some RSGs must experience enhanced mass loss during their lifetimes. The SNe from RSGs are hydrogen-rich Type II-Plateau (II-P), and SNe II-P at the low end of the luminosity range tend to arise from low-luminosity RSGs. The typical spectral energy distribution (SED) for such RSGs can generally be fit with a cool photospheric model, whereas the more luminous RSG progenitors of more luminous SNe II-P tend to require a greater quantity of dust in their CSM to account for their SEDs. The SN II-P progenitor luminosity range is log(L_bol/L_Sun) ~ 4.0--5.2. The fact RSGs are known up to log(L_bol/L_Sun) ~ 5.7 leads to the so-called ``RSG problem'', which may, in the end, be a result of small number of available statistics to date.

Citations

• OGLE-2002-BLG-360: a dusty anomaly among red nova remnants
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• The dusty red supergiant progenitor and the local environment of the Type II SN 2023ixf in M101
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• A comprehensive optical search for pre-explosion outbursts from the quiescent progenitor of SN~2023ixf
• Binary Interaction Can Yield a Diversity of Circumstellar Media around Type II Supernova Progenitors
• Constraints on pre-SN outbursts from the progenitor of SN 2023ixf using the Large Binocular Telescope
• Possible detection of the progenitor of the Type II supernova SN2023ixf
• LEGUS Discovery of a Light Echo Around Supernova 2012aw
• SN 2013ej - A type IIL supernova with weak signs of interaction
• SN 2013ej in M74: A Luminous and Fast-declining Type II-P Supernova
• Progenitors of Core-Collapse Supernovae
• Nucleosynthesis yields of core-collapse supernovae and hypernovae, and galactic chemical evolution
• DAOPHOT - A computer program for crowded-field stellar photometry

Cited by

• Dance to Demise -- How Massive Stars May Form Dense Circumstellar Shells Before Explosion
• A late-time view of the progenitor candidates of the Type II-P SN 2009ib and SN 2012ec
• Low-Luminosity Type IIP Supernovae from the Zwicky Transient Facility Census of the Local Universe. II: Lightcurve Analysis
• Another one bites the dust

Related

• Red Supergiant problem viewed from the nebular phase spectroscopy of type II supernovae
• The Red Supergiant Problem: As Seen from the Local Group's Red Supergiant Populations
• On the lack of X-ray bright Type IIP supernovae
• The red supergiant progenitor luminosity problem
• A bias-corrected luminosity function for red supergiant supernova progenitor stars