JWST/MIRI detects the dusty SN1993J about 30 years after explosion

Context. Core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) have long been considered to contribute significantly to the cosmic dust budget. Newly-formed dust in the SN ejecta cools quickly and is therefore detectable at mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelengths. However, before the era of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), direct observational evidence for dust condensation was found in only a handful of nearby CCSNe, and dust masses (∼10 −2 − 10 −3 M ⊙ , generally limited to < 5 yr and to > 500 K temperatures) have been two to three orders of magnitude smaller than theoretical predictions and dust amounts found by far-IR/submillimeter observations of Galactic SN remnants and in the very nearby SN 1987A. Aims. As recently demonstrated, the combined angular resolution and mid-IR sensitivity of JWST finally allow hidden cool (∼100–200 K) dust reservoirs in extragalactic SNe beyond SN 1987A to be revealed. Our team received JWST/MIRI time for studying a larger sample of CCSNe to fill the currently existing gap in their dust formation histories. The first observed target of this program was the well-known Type IIb SN 1993J that appeared in M81. Methods. We generated its spectral energy distribution (SED) from the current JWST/MIRI F770W, F1000W, F1500W, and F2100W fluxes. We fit single- and two-component silicate and carbonaceous dust models to the SED in order to determine the dust parameters. Results. We find that SN 1993J still contains a significant amount (∼0.01 M ⊙ ) of dust ∼30 yr after explosion. Comparing our results to those from the analysis of earlier Spitzer Space Telescope data, we observed a similar amount of dust as was detected ∼15–20 yr ago, but at a lower temperature (noting that the modeling results of the earlier Spitzer SEDs have strong limitations). We also found residual background emission near the SN site (after point-spread-function subtraction on the JWST/MIRI images) that may plausibly be attributed to an IR echo from more distant interstellar dust grains heated by the SN shock-breakout luminosity or ongoing star formation in the local environment.

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Publication Details

Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Published
2025-04-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202451470
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.46

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article

JWST/MIRI detects the dusty SN1993J about 30 years after explosion

Qinan Wang, R. J. Foley, Geoffrey C. Clayton, Ilse De Looze et al.
3 citations
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
3.46
article

JWST/MIRI detects the dusty SN1993J about 30 years after explosion

Qinan Wang, R. J. Foley, Geoffrey C. Clayton, Ilse De Looze, Nathan Smith, M. Dulude, Michael F. Skrutskie, Kishalay De, A. Rest, Jacob E. Jencson, Matthew R. Siebert, Ryan M. Lau, Michael Engesser, Jennifer E. Andrews, Samaporn Tinyanont, Arkaprabha Sarangi, Szanna Zsíros, E. Dwek, WeiKang Zheng, Dan Milisavljevic, Lin Xiao, Schuyler D. Van Dyk, Tamás Szalai, Brian J. Williams, Thomas G. Brink, Melissa Shahbandeh, Sebastián Gómez, Luc Dessart, A. P. Marston, Tea Temim, Suvi Gezari, J. Johansson, Justin D. R. Pierel, Richard O’Steen, Chris Ashall, M. M. Kasliwal, Robert Williams, Alexei V. Filippenko, Lou Strolger, Ori D. Fox
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Context. Core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) have long been considered to contribute significantly to the cosmic dust budget. Newly-formed dust in the SN ejecta cools quickly and is therefore detectable at mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelengths. However, before the era of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), direct observational evidence for dust condensation was found in only a handful of nearby CCSNe, and dust masses (∼10 −2 − 10 −3 M ⊙ , generally limited to < 5 yr and to > 500 K temperatures) have been two to three orders of magnitude smaller than theoretical predictions and dust amounts found by far-IR/submillimeter observations of Galactic SN remnants and in the very nearby SN 1987A. Aims. As recently demonstrated, the combined angular resolution and mid-IR sensitivity of JWST finally allow hidden cool (∼100–200 K) dust reservoirs in extragalactic SNe beyond SN 1987A to be revealed. Our team received JWST/MIRI time for studying a larger sample of CCSNe to fill the currently existing gap in their dust formation histories. The first observed target of this program was the well-known Type IIb SN 1993J that appeared in M81. Methods. We generated its spectral energy distribution (SED) from the current JWST/MIRI F770W, F1000W, F1500W, and F2100W fluxes. We fit single- and two-component silicate and carbonaceous dust models to the SED in order to determine the dust parameters. Results. We find that SN 1993J still contains a significant amount (∼0.01 M ⊙ ) of dust ∼30 yr after explosion. Comparing our results to those from the analysis of earlier Spitzer Space Telescope data, we observed a similar amount of dust as was detected ∼15–20 yr ago, but at a lower temperature (noting that the modeling results of the earlier Spitzer SEDs have strong limitations). We also found residual background emission near the SN site (after point-spread-function subtraction on the JWST/MIRI images) that may plausibly be attributed to an IR echo from more distant interstellar dust grains heated by the SN shock-breakout luminosity or ongoing star formation in the local environment.

Astronomy and AstrophysicsVol. 697
Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (FR), European Space Agency (FR)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, W. M. Keck Foundation, California Institute of Technology, Space Telescope Science Institute, European Commission, Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal, Szegedi Tudományegyetem, European Research Council, Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovaciós Alap, National Research, Development and Innovation Office
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
3.46
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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