Interaction of SN~Ib 2004dk with a Previously-Expelled Envelope

TL;DR

This study provides observational evidence of supernova SN 2004dk interacting with circumstellar material expelled prior to explosion, revealing insights into pre-supernova mass-loss processes through multi-wavelength data and modeling.

Contribution

It confirms a new case of ejecta-CSM interaction in SN 2004dk and introduces a wind-bubble model to explain the circumstellar environment and mass-loss history.

Findings

Detection of broad Hα component indicating ejecta-CSM interaction

Multi-wavelength observations spanning 10 days to 15 years after explosion

Estimated pre-explosion mass-loss event occurred ~1400 years prior

Abstract

The interaction between the expanding supernova (SN) ejecta with the circumstellar material (CSM) that was expelled from the progenitor prior to explosion is a long-sought phenomenon, yet observational evidence is scarce. Here we confirm a new example: SN 2004dk, originally a hydrogen-poor, helium-rich Type Ib SN that reappeared as a strong H$\alpha$-emitting point-source on narrowband H$\alpha$ images. We present follow-up optical spectroscopy that reveals the presence of a broad H$\alpha$ component with full width at half maximum of ~290 km/s in addition to the narrow H$\alpha$ +[NII] emission features from the host galaxy. Such a broad component is a clear sign of an ejecta-CSM interaction. We also present observations with the XMM-Newton Observatory, the Swift satellite, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory that span 10 days to 15 years after discovery. The detection of strong radio, X-ray, and H$\alpha$ emission years after explosion allows various constraints to be put on pre-SN mass-loss processes. We present a wind-bubble model in which the CSM is "pre-prepared" by a fast wind interacting with a slow wind. Much of the outer density profile into which the SN explodes corresponds to no steady-state mass-loss process. We estimate that the shell of compressed slow wind material was ejected ~1400 yr prior to explosion, perhaps during carbon burning, and that the SN shock had swept up about 0.04 M_sun of material. The region emitting the H$\alpha$ has a density of order $10^{-20}$ g/cc.