The Diverse Properties of Type Icn Supernovae Point to Multiple Progenitor Channels

Abstract

We present a sample of Type Icn supernovae (SNe Icn), a newly-discovered class of transients characterized by their interaction with H- and He-poor circumstellar material (CSM). This sample is the largest collection of SNe Icn to date and includes observations of two published objects (SN 2019hgp and SN 2021csp) as well as two objects (SN 2019jc and SN 2021ckj) not yet published in the literature. The SNe Icn display a range of peak luminosities, rise times, and decline rates, as well as diverse late-time spectral features. To investigate their explosion and progenitor properties we fit their bolometric light curves to a semi-analytical model consisting of luminosity inputs from circumstellar interaction and radioactive decay of ${}^{56}$Ni. We infer low ejecta masses ($\lesssim$ 2 M${}_{\odot }$) and ${}^{56}$Ni masses ($\lesssim$ 0.04 M${}_{\odot }$) from the light curves, suggesting that normal stripped-envelope supernova (SESN) explosions within a dense CSM cannot be the underlying mechanism powering SNe Icn. Additionally, we find that an upper limit on the star formation rate density at the location of SN 2019jc lies at the lower end of a distribution of SESNe, in conflict with a massive star progenitor of this object. Based on the estimated ejecta masses, ${}^{56}$Ni masses, and explosion site properties, we favor a low-mass, ultra-stripped star as the progenitor of some SNe Icn. For others, we suggest that a Wolf-Rayet star progenitor may better explain their observed properties. This study demonstrates that multiple progenitor channels may produce SNe Icn and other interaction-powered transients.

arXiv comment25 pages, 11 figures, published in ApJ

References in corpus (97)

• Array Programming with NumPy
• emcee: The MCMC Hammer
• The Astropy Project: Building an inclusive, open-science project and status of the v2.0 core package
• Measuring Reddening with SDSS Stellar Spectra and Recalibrating SFD
• Star Formation in Galaxies Along the Hubble Sequence
• Collapsars - Gamma-Ray Bursts and Explosions in "Failed Supernovae"
• Binary interaction dominates the evolution of massive stars
• The Zwicky Transient Facility: System Overview, Performance, and First Results
• The Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope
• The u'g'r'i'z' Standard Star Network
• Spectroscopic Discovery of the Supernova 2003dh Associated with GRB 030329
• Progenitors of core-collapse supernovae
• ATLAS: A High-Cadence All-Sky Survey System
• Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network
• Explosion Mechanisms of Core-Collapse Supernovae
• Core-Collapse Supernovae from 9 to 120 Solar Masses Based on Neutrino-powered Explosions
• Mass Loss: Its Effect on the Evolution and Fate of High-Mass Stars
• Physical Properties of Wolf-Rayet Stars
• The Zwicky Transient Facility: Science Objectives
• WISeREP - An Interactive Supernova Data Repository
• Supernovae, Jets, and Collapsars
• Pulsational Pair-Instability Supernovae
• Observational constraints on the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae : the case for missing high mass stars
• Observed and Physical Properties of Core-Collapse Supernovae
• No supernovae associated with two long-duration gamma ray bursts
• Type Ib/c supernovae in binary systems I. Evolution and properties of the progenitor stars
• A giant outburst two years before the core-collapse of a massive star
• An enigmatic long-lasting gamma-ray burst not accompanied by a bright supernova
• On the role of continuum-driven eruptions in the evolution of very massive stars and Population III stars
• The gamma-ray burst GRB060614 requires a novel explosive process
• The diversity of Type II supernova versus the similarity in their progenitors
• A Wolf-Rayet-like progenitor of supernova SN 2013cu from spectral observations of a wind
• Rapidly-Evolving and Luminous Transients from Pan-STARRS1
• Generalized Semi-Analytical Models of Supernova Light Curves
• Bolometric light curves and explosion parameters of 38 stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae
• Jet-Induced Explosions of Core Collapse Supernovae
• Circumstellar Emission from Type Ib and Ic Supernovae
• SN 2006jc: A Wolf-Rayet Star Exploding in a Dense He-Rich Circumstellar Medium
• The Remarkable Deaths of 9 - 11 Solar Mass Stars
• The death of massive stars - II. Observational constraints on the progenitors of type Ibc supernovae
• An embedded X-ray source shines through the aspherical AT2018cow: revealing the inner workings of the most luminous fast-evolving optical transients
• SOUSA: the Swift Optical/Ultraviolet Supernova Archive
• Runaway stars as progenitors of supernovae and gamma-ray bursts
• Massive runaways and walkaway stars
• Fully-Automated Reduction of Longslit Spectroscopy with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer at Keck Observatory
• Discovery, Progenitor & Early Evolution of a Stripped Envelope Supernova iPTF13bvn
• The early UV/Optical emission from core-collapse supernovae
• The Fast, Luminous Ultraviolet Transient AT2018cow: Extreme Supernova, or Disruption of a Star by an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole?
• Ultra-stripped Type Ic supernovae from close binary evolution
• GRB 970228 Revisited: Evidence for a Supernova in the Light Curve and La te Spectral Energy Distribution of the Afterglow
• The Carnegie Supernova Project I: analysis of stripped-envelope supernova light curves
• A low energy core-collapse supernova without a hydrogen envelope
• Early-time light curves of Type Ib/c supernovae from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey
• Stellar and Wind Properties of LMC WC4 stars - A metallicity dependence for Wolf-Rayet mass-loss rates
• Progenitor mass constraints for core-collapse supernovae from correlations with host galaxy star formation
• Fallback Supernovae: A Possible Origin of Peculiar Supernovae with Extremely Low Explosion Energies
• The properties of dynamically ejected runaway and hyper-runaway stars
• Dynamical ejections of massive stars from young star clusters under diverse initial conditions
• A Fast Algorithm for Cosmic Rays Removal from Single Images
• A very low mass of Ni-56 in the ejecta of SN 1994W
• The Palomar Transient Factory Core-Collapse Supernova Host-Galaxy Sample. I. Host-Galaxy Distribution Functions and Environment-Dependence of CCSNe
• Type Ibn Supernovae Show Photometric Homogeneity and Spectral Diversity at Maximum Light
• The Galactic WC and WO stars: The impact of revised distances from Gaia DR2 and their role as massive black hole progenitors
• PISCO: The Pmas/ppak Integral-field Supernova hosts COmpilation
• The Fast and Furious Decay of the Peculiar Type Ic Supernova 2005ek
• Analysis of broad-lined Type Ic supernovae from the (intermediate) Palomar Transient Factory
• A hot and fast ultra-stripped supernova that likely formed a compact neutron star binary
• Winds from stripped low-mass Helium stars and Wolf-Rayet stars
• A WC/WO star exploding within an expanding carbon-oxygen-neon nebula
• The electron-capture origin of supernova 2018zd
• The Type Icn SN 2021csp: Implications for the Origins of the Fastest Supernovae and the Fates of Wolf-Rayet Stars
• A Cool and Inflated Progenitor Candidate for the Type Ib Supernova 2019yvr at 2.6 Years Before Explosion
• Light-curve and spectral properties of ultra-stripped core-collapse supernovae leading to binary neutron stars
• The Type Ic SN 2007gr: a census of the ejecta from late-time optical-infrared spectra
• Evidence for Late-stage Eruptive Mass-loss in the Progenitor to SN2018gep, a Broad-lined Ic Supernova: Pre-explosion Emission and a Rapidly Rising Luminous Transient
• iPTF16asu: A Luminous, Rapidly-Evolving, and High-Velocity Supernova
• Radio Observations Reveal Unusual Circumstellar Environments for Some Type Ibc Supernova Progenitors
• The ALFALFA-SDSS Galaxy Catalog
• Rapidly Fading Supernovae from Massive Star Explosions
• SN2019dge: a Helium-rich Ultra-Stripped Envelope Supernova
• PS1-12sk is a Peculiar Supernova From a He-rich Progenitor System in a Brightest Cluster Galaxy Environment
• Properties of Type Ibn Supernovae: Implications for the Progenitor Evolution and the Origin of a Population of Rapid Transients
• Circumstellar Interaction Powers the Light Curves of Luminous Rapidly Evolving Optical Transients
• Type Ibn Supernovae May not all Come from Massive Stars
• Rapidly evolving faint transients from stripped-envelope electron-capture supernovae
• Runaway OB Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud: Dynamical Versus Supernova Ejections
• Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium. VI. Observations of two distant Type Ibn supernova candidates discovered by La Silla-QUEST
• A simple analysis of Type I superluminous supernova peak spectra: composition, expansion velocities, and dynamics
• The Peculiar Transient AT2018cow: A Possible Origin of A Type Ibn/IIn Supernova
• Fast Blue Optical Transients due to Circumstellar Interaction and the Mysterious Supernova SN 2018gep
• Less than 1% of Core-Collapse Supernovae in the local universe occur in elliptical galaxies
• Models of bright nickel-free supernovae from stripped massive stars with circumstellar shells
• Extended Self-similar Solution for Circumstellar Material-Supernova Ejecta Interaction
• The Exotic Type Ic Broad-Lined Supernova SN 2018gep: Blurring the Line Between Supernovae and Fast Optical Transients
• A Search for In-Situ Field OB Star Formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Runaway stars masquerading as star formation in galactic outskirts
• iPTF 16asu Revisited: A Rapidly Evolving Superluminous Broad-Lined Ic Supernova?

Cited by in corpus (24)

• Extreme mass loss in low-mass type Ib/c supernova progenitors
• Seven years of coordinated Chandra-NuSTAR observations of SN2014C unfold the extreme mass-loss history of its stellar progenitor
• A Systematic Study of Ia-CSM Supernovae from the ZTF Bright Transient Survey
• The broad-lined Type-Ic supernova SN 2022xxf with extraordinary two-humped light curves
• SN 2022ann: A type Icn supernova from a dwarf galaxy that reveals helium in its circumstellar environment
• Explodability criteria for the neutrino-driven supernova mechanism
• Mass-transferring binary stars as progenitors of interacting hydrogen-free supernovae
• Late-time H/He-poor circumstellar interaction in the type-Ic supernova SN 2021ocs: an exposed oxygen-magnesium layer and extreme stripping of the progenitor
• Multiple Peaks and a Long Precursor in the Type IIn Supernova 2021qqp: An Energetic Explosion in a Complex Circumstellar Environment
• Photometry and spectroscopy of the Type Icn supernova 2021ckj: The diverse properties of the ejecta and circumstellar matter of Type Icn SNe
• The landscape of binary core-collapse supernova progenitors and the late emergence of Wolf-Rayet winds
• Detached and Continuous Circumstellar Matter in Type Ibc Supernovae from Mass Eruption
• Large Cold Dust Reservoir Revealed in Transitional SN Ib 2014C by James Webb Space Telescope Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy
• Peculiar Spectral Evolution of the Type I Supernova 2019eix: A Possible Double Detonation from a Helium Shell on a Sub-Chandrasekhar-mass White Dwarf
• Revisiting GRB 060218: new insights into low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts from a revised shock breakout model
• Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium $-$ X. Flash spectral features in the Type Ibn SN 2019cj and observations of SN 2018jmt
• SN 2023zaw: an ultra-stripped, nickel-poor supernova from a low-mass progenitor
• Insights into the Properties of Type Ibn/Icn Supernovae and Their Progenitor Channels through X-ray Emission
• Observational diversity of bright long-lived Type II supernovae
• Super-SNID : an expanded set of SNID classes and templates for the new era of wide-field surveys
• The hydrogen-free circumstellar interaction in the Type Ib supernova 2021efd: A clue to the mechanism of the helium-layer stripping
• SN 2024abvb: A Type Icn Supernova in the Outskirts of its Host Galaxy
• Nested, asymmetric H-He circumstellar shells in the Type Icn/Ibn SN 2024abvb
• Spectral Dataset of Stripped-Envelope Supernovae from the Tsinghua Supernova Group