Constraining supernova progenitors: an integral field spectroscopic survey of the explosion sites

TL;DR

This survey uses integral field spectroscopy to analyze supernova explosion sites, aiming to determine progenitor star properties by studying their local stellar populations and environments in detail.

Contribution

It extends previous work by combining optical and near-infrared IFS with adaptive optics to precisely characterize supernova progenitors' environments.

Findings

Derived progenitor ages and metallicities from local stellar populations.

Achieved high spatial resolution imaging of explosion sites.

Provided constraints on initial mass and metallicity of progenitor stars.

Abstract

We describe a survey of nearby core-collapse supernova (SN) explosion sites using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) technique, which is an extension of the work described in Kuncarayakti et al. (2013, AJ, 146, 30/31) . The project aims to constrain the SN progenitor properties based on the study of the SN immediate environment. The stellar populations present at the SN explosion sites are studied by means of integral field spectroscopy, which enables the acquisition of both spatial and spectral information of the object simultaneously. The spectrum of the SN parent stellar population gives the estimate of its age and metallicity. With this information, the initial mass and metallicity of the once coeval SN progenitor star are derived. While the survey is mostly done in optical, additionally the utilization of near-infrared integral field spectroscopy assisted with adaptive optics (AO) enables us to examine the explosion sites in high spatial details, down to a few parsecs. This work is being carried out using multiple 2-8 m class telescopes equipped with integral field spectrographs in Chile and Hawaii.