Comparisons of the radial distributions of core-collapse supernovae with those of young and old stellar populations

TL;DR

This study analyzes the radial distributions of core-collapse supernovae in host galaxies, revealing correlations with star formation regions and metallicity, and distinguishing progenitor characteristics among supernova types.

Contribution

It provides observational evidence linking supernova types to metallicity and star formation, enhancing understanding of supernova progenitors and their environmental dependencies.

Findings

Core-collapse supernovae closely follow star formation regions.

SNII are centrally deficient, while SNIb/c are centrally concentrated.

Higher metallicity progenitors produce SNIb/c, especially SNIc.

Abstract

We present observational constraints on the nature of core-collapse supernovae through an investigation into their radial distributions with respect to those of young and old stellar populations within their host galaxies, as traced by H-alpha emission and R-band light respectively. We discuss results and the implications they have on the nature of supernova progenitors, for a sample of 177 core-collapse supernovae. We find that the radial positions of the overall core-collapse population closely follow the radial distribution of H-alpha emission, implying that both are excellent tracers of star formation within galaxies. Within this overall distribution we find that there is a central deficit of SNII which is offset by a central excess of SNIb/c. This implies a strong metallicity dependence on the relative production of the two types, with SNIb/c arising from higher metallicity progenitors than SNII. Separating the SNIb/c into individual classes we find that a trend emerges in terms of progenitor metallicity going from SNII through SNIb to SNIc, with the latter arising from the highest metallicity progenitors.