Pre-supernova outbursts via wave heating in massive stars – I. Red supergiants

By J. Fuller. 2017

163 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Early observations of supernovae (SNe) indicate that enhanced mass-loss and pre-SN outbursts may occur in progenitors of many types of SNe. We investigate the role of energy transport via waves driven by vigorous convection during late-stage nuclear burning of otherwise typical 15 M_⊙ red supergiant SN progenitors. Using MESA stellar evolution models including 1D hydrodynamics, we find that waves carry ∼10^7 L_⊙ of power from the core to the envelope during core neon/oxygen burning in the final years before core collapse. The waves damp via shocks and radiative diffusion at the base of the hydrogen envelope, which heats up fast enough to launch a pressure wave into the overlying envelope that steepens into a weak shock near the stellar surface, causing a mild stellar outburst and ejecting a small (≲1 M_⊙) amount of mass at low speed (≲50 km s^(−1)) roughly one year before the SN. The wave heating inflates the stellar envelope but does not completely unbind it, producing a non-hydrostatic pre-SN envelope density structure different from prior expectations. In our models, wave heating is unlikely to lead to luminous Type IIn SNe, but it may contribute to flash-ionized SNe and some of the diversity seen in II-P/II-L SNe.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f97cb29fccaab72ab7f0aae04632d4ee2d3f9a1d

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

Citations in the corpus

Measuring the Progenitor Masses and Dense Circumstellar Material of Type II Supernovae (2017, methodology): “It seems to indicate that there is increased activity in RSGs during the last months or years of their lives, which may be related to theoretical studies of pre-explosion outbursts (Quataert & Shiode 2012; Shiode & Quataert 2014; Quataert et al. 2016; Fuller 2017).”
A High-resolution Study of Presupernova Core Structure (2017, background): “The envelope might also be lost to a very weak explosion that did not unbind the helium core (Quataert & Shiode 2012; Fuller 2017; Lovegrove & Woosley 2013).”
Massive runaway and walkaway stars (2018, background): “One possible physical cause for these event are gravity waves excited by late shell burning depositing energy at the base of the envelope (Quataert & Shiode 2012; Fuller 2017; Fuller & Ro 2018).”
The Zwicky Transient Facility: Science Objectives (2019, background): “This may be important for a better understanding of the SN explosion mechanism as these final stages determine the initial conditions to explosion simulations (e.g., Arnett & Meakin 2011; Quataert & Shiode 2012; Shiode & Quataert 2014; Fuller 2017; Fuller & Ro 2018).”