Shock Breakout and Early Light Curves of Type II-P Supernovae Observed with Kepler

TL;DR

This study uses Kepler data to analyze early light curves of two Type II-P supernovae, revealing differences in progenitor radii, explosion energies, and evidence of shock breakout, providing new insights into supernova early evolution.

Contribution

First optical detection of shock breakout in a Type II-P supernova and detailed analysis of early light curves with precise rise time estimates.

Findings

KSN2011a had a faster rise time than models predicted.

KSN2011d's light curve matches simple RSG explosion models.

Shock breakout was detected in KSN2011d but not in KSN2011a.

Abstract

We discovered two transient events in the Kepler field with light curves that strongly suggest they are type II-P supernovae. Using the fast cadence of the Kepler observations we precisely estimate the rise time to maximum for KSN2011a and KSN2011d as 10.5$\pm 0.4$ and 13.3$\pm 0.4$ rest-frame days respectively. Based on fits to idealized analytic models, we find the progenitor radius of KSN2011a (280$\pm 20$ R$_\odot$) to be significantly smaller than that for KSN2011d (490$\pm 20$ R$_\odot$) but both have similar explosion energies of 2.0$\pm 0.3\times 10^{51}$ erg. The rising light curve of KSN2011d is an excellent match to that predicted by simple models of exploding red supergiants (RSG). However, the early rise of KSN2011a is faster than the models predict possibly due to the supernova shockwave moving into pre-existing wind or mass-loss from the RSG. A mass loss rate of $10^{-4}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ from the RSG can explain the fast rise without impacting the optical flux at maximum light or the shape of the post-maximum light curve. No shock breakout emission is seen in KSN2011a, but this is likely due to the circumstellar interaction suspected in the fast rising light curve. The early light curve of KSN2011d does show excess emission consistent with model predictions of a shock breakout. This is the first optical detection of a shock breakout from a type II-P supernova.