Integral field spectroscopy of supernova explosion sites: constraining mass and metallicity of the progenitors -- II. Type II-P and II-L supernovae

TL;DR

This study uses integral field spectroscopy of supernova explosion sites to estimate the metallicity and initial mass of progenitor stars, revealing some type-II supernovae may originate from stars with masses similar to those of SN Ib/c progenitors.

Contribution

It introduces a method combining spatial and spectral analysis to determine progenitor star properties from explosion sites, improving understanding of supernova origins.

Findings

Progenitor stars of some type-II supernovae have masses comparable to SN Ib/c progenitors.

Metallicity estimates of explosion sites help infer progenitor star properties.

The technique links stellar population age to progenitor initial mass.

Abstract

Thirteen explosion sites of type II-P and II-L supernovae in nearby galaxies have been observed using integral field spectroscopy, enabling both spatial and spectral study of the explosion sites. We used the properties of the parent stellar population of the coeval supernova progenitor star to derive its metallicity and initial mass (c.f. Paper I). The spectrum of the parent stellar population yields the estimates of metallicity via strong-line method, and age via comparison with simple stellar population (SSP) models. These metallicity and age parameters are adopted for the progenitor star. Age, or lifetime of the star, was used to derive initial (ZAMS) mass of the star by comparing with stellar evolution models. With this technique, we were able to determine metallicity and initial mass of the SN progenitors in our sample. Our result indicates that some type-II supernova progenitors may have been stars with mass comparable to SN Ib/c progenitors.