[vsnet-chat 7107] Spitzer observation of a plateau of an SN II-P

[Taichi Kato]

Spitzer observation of a plateau of an SN II-P

   The origin of the plateau in SNe II-P seems to be better observationally
constrained:

Paper: astro-ph/0506407
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 10:31:08 GMT   (124kb)

Title: Early-time Spitzer observations of the type II-Plateau supernova, 2004dj
Authors: Rubina Kotak (Imperial College London), Peter Meikle (Imperial College
  London), Schuyler van Dyk (Spitzer Science Cente), Peter Hoeflich (Uni. of
  Texas), Seppo Mattila (Stockholm Observatory)
Comments: ApJ Letters (accepted)
\\
  We present mid-infrared observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope of the
nearby type II-P supernova, SN 2004dj, at epochs of 89 to 129 days. We have
obtained the first mid-IR spectra of any supernova apart from SN 1987A. A
prominent [NiII] 6.64 micron line is observed, from which we deduce that the
mass of stable nickel must be at least 2.2e10(-4) Msun. We also observe the red
wing of the CO-fundamental band. We relate our findings to possible progenitors
and favour an evolved star, most likely a red supergiant, with a probable
initial mass between ~10 and 15 Msun.
\\ ( http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0506407 ,  124kb)