One Year of SN 2023ixf: Breaking through the Degenerate Parameter Space in Light-curve Models with Pulsating Progenitors

Abstract We present and analyze the extensive optical broadband photometry of the Type II SN 2023ixf up to 1 yr after explosion. We find that, when compared to two preexisting model grids, the bolometric light curve is consistent with drastically different combinations of progenitor and explosion properties. This may be an effect of known degeneracies in Type IIP light-curve models. We independently compute a large grid of MESA+STELLA single-star progenitor and light-curve models with various zero-age main-sequence masses, mass-loss efficiencies, and convective efficiencies. Using the observed progenitor variability as an additional constraint, we select stellar models consistent with the pulsation period and explode them according to previously established scaling laws to match plateau properties. Our hydrodynamic modeling indicates that SN 2023ixf is most consistent with a moderate-energy ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>E</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">exp</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>≈</mml:mo> <mml:mn>7</mml:mn> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>0</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>50</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:math> erg) explosion of an initially high-mass red supergiant progenitor (≳16.5 M ⊙ ) that lost a significant amount of mass in its prior evolution, leaving a low-mass hydrogen envelope (≲3 M ⊙ ) at the time of explosion, with a radius ≳950 R ⊙ and a synthesized 56 Ni mass of ≈0.068 M ⊙ . We posit that previous mass transfer in a binary system may have stripped the envelope of SN 2023ixf’s progenitor. The analysis method with pulsation period presented in this work offers a way to break degeneracies in light-curve modeling in the future, particularly with the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time, when a record of progenitor variability will be more common.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2025-09-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adf222
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
6.93

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article

One Year of SN 2023ixf: Breaking through the Degenerate Parameter Space in Light-curve Models with Pulsating Progenitors

Jared A. Goldberg, L. Galbany, Nathan Smith, Jeniveve Pearson et al.
6 citations
The Astrophysical Journal
Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
6.93
article

One Year of SN 2023ixf: Breaking through the Degenerate Parameter Space in Light-curve Models with Pulsating Progenitors

Jared A. Goldberg, L. Galbany, Nathan Smith, Jeniveve Pearson, Jennifer E. Andrews, D. Hiramatsu, G. Hosseinzadeh, V. Ashley Villar, Estefania Padilla Gonzalez, Réka Könyves-Tóth, Yize Dong, Joseph Farah, David J. Sand, Emma R. Beasor, G. Terreran, C. McCully, C. P. Gutiérrez, Brian Hsu, Megan Newsome, Sebastián Gómez, D. A. Howell, Manisha Shrestha, Xiaofeng Wang, K. Azalee Bostroem
article en
6 citations

Abstract

Abstract We present and analyze the extensive optical broadband photometry of the Type II SN 2023ixf up to 1 yr after explosion. We find that, when compared to two preexisting model grids, the bolometric light curve is consistent with drastically different combinations of progenitor and explosion properties. This may be an effect of known degeneracies in Type IIP light-curve models. We independently compute a large grid of MESA+STELLA single-star progenitor and light-curve models with various zero-age main-sequence masses, mass-loss efficiencies, and convective efficiencies. Using the observed progenitor variability as an additional constraint, we select stellar models consistent with the pulsation period and explode them according to previously established scaling laws to match plateau properties. Our hydrodynamic modeling indicates that SN 2023ixf is most consistent with a moderate-energy ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>E</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">exp</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>≈</mml:mo> <mml:mn>7</mml:mn> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>0</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>50</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:math> erg) explosion of an initially high-mass red supergiant progenitor (≳16.5 M ⊙ ) that lost a significant amount of mass in its prior evolution, leaving a low-mass hydrogen envelope (≲3 M ⊙ ) at the time of explosion, with a radius ≳950 R ⊙ and a synthesized 56 Ni mass of ≈0.068 M ⊙ . We posit that previous mass transfer in a binary system may have stripped the envelope of SN 2023ixf’s progenitor. The analysis method with pulsation period presented in this work offers a way to break degeneracies in light-curve modeling in the future, particularly with the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time, when a record of progenitor variability will be more common.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 990(2)
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (US), Institute of Space Sciences (ES), University of Arizona (US), University of California, Santa Barbara (US), University of Szeged (HU), Konkoly Observatory (HU), University of California San Diego (US), Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (ES), Gemini North Observatory (US), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), Flatiron Health (United States) (US), The NSF AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (US), Flatiron Institute (US), Liverpool John Moores University (GB), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES), Tsinghua University (CN)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, Vanderbilt University, Princeton University, Ohio State University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Arizona, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Portsmouth, New Mexico State University, Space Telescope Science Institute, Heising-Simons Foundation, Tencent, Flatiron Health, York University, European Commission, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Office of Science, College of Engineering, Michigan State University, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
6.93
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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