An outburst from a massive star 40 days before a supernova explosion

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Abstract
A mass-loss event 40 days before the explosion of the type IIn supernova SN 2010mc has been detected; the outburst indicates that there is a causal relation between explosive mass-loss events seen in some massive stars before their explosion and the onset of the supernova explosion. Various lines of evidence suggest that very massive stars experience extreme mass-loss episodes shortly before they explode as supernovae. This paper reports the observation of one such event: 40 days before the explosion of the type IIn supernova SN 2010mc its progenitor underwent an energetic outburst that released 0.01 solar masses of material at velocities of around 2,000 km per second.The luminosity and velocity of the outburst are consistent with the predictions of the wave-driven pulsation model of supernova explosions. Some observations suggest that very massive stars experience extreme mass-loss episodes shortly before they explode as supernovae1,2,3,4, as do several models5,6,7. Establishing a causal connection between these mass-loss episodes and the final explosion would provide a novel way to study pre-supernova massive-star evolution. Here we report observations of a mass-loss event detected 40 days before the explosion of the type IIn supernova SN 2010mc (also known as PTF 10tel). Our photometric and spectroscopic data suggest that this event is a result of an energetic outburst, radiating at least 6 × 1047 erg of energy and releasing about 10−2 solar masses of material at typical velocities of 2,000 km s−1. The temporal proximity of the mass-loss outburst and the supernova explosion implies a causal connection between them. Moreover, we find that the outburst luminosity and velocity are consistent with the predictions of the wave-driven pulsation model6, and disfavour alternative suggestions7.
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