The Red Supergiant Progenitor of the Type II Supernova 2024abfl

TL;DR

This paper identifies the progenitor of the recent Type II supernova 2024abfl as a red supergiant with an initial mass between 10 and 16 solar masses, based on archival HST data.

Contribution

It provides the first direct identification of a red supergiant progenitor for SN 2024abfl using pre-explosion HST observations.

Findings

Progenitor was a red supergiant star.

Estimated initial mass of progenitor: 10-16 solar masses.

Confirmed progenitor properties match typical RSG characteristics.

Abstract

Linkage between core-collapse supernovae (SNe) and their progenitors is not fully understood and ongoing effort of searching and identifying the progenitors is needed. $\mathrm{SN\,2024abfl}$ is a recent Type II supernova exploded in the nearby star-bursting galaxy $\mathrm{NGC\,2146}$, which is also the host galaxy of $\mathrm{SN\,2018zd}$. From archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data, we have found a red source ($\mathrm{m_{F814W} \sim 25}$) near the location (angular distance $\leq 0.2"$) of $\mathrm{SN\,2024abfl}$ before its explosion. With F814W and F606W photometry, we found that the properties of this source matched a typical red supergiant (RSG) moderately reddened by interstellar dust at the distance of the host galaxy. We conclude that the $\mathrm{SN\,2024abfl}$ had an RSG progenitor with initial mass of $\mathrm{10M_{\odot}}$--$\mathrm{16\,M_{\odot}}$.