Supernova shock breakout from a red supergiant.
Massive stars undergo a violent death when the supply of nuclear fuel in their cores is exhausted, resulting in a catastrophic "core-collapse" supernova. Such events are usually only detected at least a few days after the star has exploded. Observations of the supernova SNLS-04D2dc with the Galaxy Evolution Explorer space telescope reveal a radiative precursor from the supernova shock before the shock reached the surface of the star and show the initial expansion of the star at the beginning of the explosion. Theoretical models of the ultraviolet light curve confirm that the progenitor was a red supergiant, as expected for this type of supernova. These observations provide a way to probe the physics of core-collapse supernovae and the internal structures of their progenitor stars.
Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK. kevins@astro.ox.ac.uk
Kevin
K
Schawinski
Stephen
S
Justham
Christian
C
Wolf
Philipp
P
Podsiadlowski
Mark
M
Sullivan
Katrien C
KC
Steenbrugge
Tony
T
Bell
Hermann-Josef
HJ
Röser
Emma S
ES
Walker
Pierre
P
Astier
Dave
D
Balam
Christophe
C
Balland
Ray
R
Carlberg
Alex
A
Conley
Dominique
D
Fouchez
Julien
J
Guy
Delphine
D
Hardin
Isobel
I
Hook
D Andrew
DA
Howell
Reynald
R
Pain
Kathy
K
Perrett
Chris
C
Pritchet
Nicolas
N
Regnault
Sukyoung K
SK
Yi