Table · dataset · 2024
Follow-up HST obs. of a strong failed SN cand.
Listed in IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory)
We present the discovery of an exceptional dimming event in a cool supergiant star in the Local Volume spiral M51.
Description
The star, dubbed M51-DS1, was found as part of a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) search for failed supernovae (SNe). The supergiant, which is plausibly associated with a very young (<~6Myr) stellar population, showed clear variability (amplitude {Delta}F814W~0.7mag) in numerous HST images obtained between 1995 and 2016, before suddenly dimming by >2mag in F814W sometime between late 2017 and mid-2019.
In follow-up data from 2021, the star rebrightened, ruling out a failed supernova. Prior to its near-disappearance, the star was luminous and red (M_F814W_<~-7.6mag, F606W-F814W=1.9-2.2mag). Modeling of the pre-dimming spectral energy distribution of the star favors a highly reddened, very luminous (log[L/L_{sun}_]=5.4-5.7) star with Teff~3700-4700K, indicative of a cool yellow or post-red supergiant (RSG) with an initial mass of ~26-40M_{sun}_.
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However, the local interstellar extinction and circumstellar extinction are uncertain, and could be lower: the near-IR colors are consistent with an RSG, which would be cooler (Teff<~3700K) and slightly less luminous (log[L/L_{sun}_]=5.2-5.3), giving an inferred initial mass of ~19-22M_{sun}_. In either case, the dimming may be explained by a rare episode of enhanced mass loss that temporarily obscures the star, potentially a more extreme counterpart to the 2019-2020 "Great Dimming" of Betelgeuse.
Given the emerging evidence that massive evolved stars commonly exhibit variability that can mimic a disappearing star, our work highlights a substantial challenge in identifying true failed SNe.
Links
Where it is published
- Reference page cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/930/81 ↗
landing page · from IVOA Registry
Documentation and papers
- ADS 2022ApJ...930...81J ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022ApJ...930...81J ↗
publication · from IVOA Registry
Catalogue records · 2
- VOResource record dc.g-vo.org/oai.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=ivo_vor&identifier=ivo%3… ↗
metadata API · from IVOA Registry
- Registry record (GAVO) dc.g-vo.org/I/cds.vizier/j/apj/930/81 ↗
catalogue entry · from IVOA Registry
Topics
- Stated by source
- Infrared
- From keywords
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Inferred from text
- Image 65%
Provenance · 1 source records, 9 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory) | ivo://cds.vizier/j/apj/930/81 | 12 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:astronomy | mapping · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:infrared | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].local:modality:image | enrichment · IVOA Registry | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (65%) |
| description | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_description |
| license_text | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| publication_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_title |
| updated_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 |