Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

The massive binary companion star to the progenitor of supernova 1993J

Nature volume 427, pages 129–131 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The massive star that underwent a collapse of its core to produce supernova (SN)1993J was subsequently identified as a non-variable red supergiant star in images of the galaxy M81 taken before explosion1,2. It showed an excess in ultraviolet and B-band colours, suggesting either the presence of a hot, massive companion star or that it was embedded in an unresolved young stellar association1. The spectra of SN1993J underwent a remarkable transformation from the signature of a hydrogen-rich type II supernova to one of a helium-rich (hydrogen-deficient) type Ib3,4. The spectral and photometric peculiarities were best explained by models in which the 13–20 solar mass supergiant had lost almost its entire hydrogen envelope to a close binary companion5,6,7, producing a ‘type IIb’ supernova, but the hypothetical massive companion stars for this class of supernovae have so far eluded discovery. Here we report photometric and spectroscopic observations of SN1993J ten years after the explosion. At the position of the fading supernova we detect the unambiguous signature of a massive star: the binary companion to the progenitor.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: An HST ACS High Resolution Camera (HRC) F330W (∼ U-band) image of SN1993J.
Figure 2: Near-ultraviolet spectra of SN1993J.
Figure 3: Hertzsprung–Russell diagram illustrating the evolution of the progenitor binary of SN1993J.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aldering, G., Humphreys, R. M. & Richmond, M. SN1993J: The optical properties of its progenitor. Astron. J. 107, 662–672 (1994)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Cohen, J. G., Darling, J. & Porter, A. The nonvariability of the progenitor of supernova 1993J in M81. Astron. J. 110, 308–311 (1995)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Filippenko, A. V., Matheson, T. & Ho, L. C. The “type IIb” supernova 1993J in M81: a close relative of type Ib supernovae. Astrophys. J. 415, L103–L106 (1993)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Swartz, D. A., Clocchiatti, A., Benjamin, R., Lester, D. F. & Wheeler, J. C. Supernova 1993J as a spectroscopic link between type II and type Ib supernovae. Nature 365, 232–234 (1993)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Podsiadlowski, Ph., Hsu, J. J. L., Joss, P. C. & Ross, R. R. The progenitor of supernova 1993J: a stripped supergiant in a binary system. Nature 364, 509–511 (1993)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Nomoto, K. et al. A type IIb model for supernova 1993J. Nature 364, 507–509 (1993)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Woosley, S. E., Eastman, R. G., Weaver, T. A. & Pinto, P. A. SN1993J: A type IIb supernova. Astrophys. J. 429, 300–318 (1994)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Van Dyk, S. D. et al. The progenitor of supernova 1993J revisited. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacif. 114, 1322–1332 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Fesen, R. A. et al. Late-time optical and ultraviolet spectra of SN1979C and SN1980K. Astron. J. 117, 725–735 (1999)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Matheson, T., Filippenko, A. V., Ho, L. C., Barth, A. J. & Leonard, D. C. Detailed analysis of early to late-time spectra of supernova 1993J. Astron. J. 120, 1499–1515 (2000)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Hubeny, I. & Lanz, T. Non-LTE line-blanketed model atmospheres of hot stars. 1: Hybrid complete linearization/accelerated lambda iteration method. Astrophys. J. 439, 875–904 (1995)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ryans, R. et al. An analysis of the optical spectra of the post-asymptotic giant branch stars LSIV-12 111 and HD 341617. Astron. Astrophys. 401, 1119–1129 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. McErlean, N. D., Lennon, D. J. & Dufton, P. L. Galactic B-supergiants: A non-LTE model atmosphere analysis to estimate atmospheric parameters and chemical compositions. Astron. Astrophys. 349, 553–572 (1999)

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kudritzki, R. et al. The wind momentum–luminosity relationship of galactic A- and B-supergiants. Astron. Astrophys. 350, 970–984 (1999)

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Podsiadlowski, Ph. & Joss, P. C. An alternative binary model for SN1987A. Nature 338, 401–403 (1989)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Braun, H. & Langer, N. Effects of accretion onto massive main sequence stars. Astron. Astrophys. 297, 483–493 (1995)

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Podsiadlowski, Ph. The progenitor of SN 1987A. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacif. 104, 717–729 (1992)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Smartt, S. J. et al. The evolutionary status of Sher 25—implications for blue supergiants and the progenitor of SN1987A. Astron. Astrophys. 391, 979–991 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Bresolin, F. et al. Discovery and quantitative spectral analysis of an Ofpe/WN9 (WN11) star in the sculptor spiral galaxy NGC 300. Astrophys. J. 577, L107–L110 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Urbaneja, M. et al. Quantitative spectral analysis of early B-type supergiants in the sculptor galaxy NGC 300. Astrophys. J. 584, L73–L77 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Marggraf, O. & de Boer, K. S. Absorption line systems on the line of sight from SN 1987A and SN1993J and the intergalactic cloud in front of M81. Astron. Astrophys. 363, 733–743 (2000)

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Brandt, N. & Podsiadlowski, Ph. The effects of high-velocity supernova kicks on the orbital properties and sky distributions of neutron star binaries. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 274, 461–484 (1995)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Ferrarese, L. et al. A database of Cepheid distance moduli and tip of the red giant branch, globular cluster luminosity function, planetary nebula luminosity function and surface brightness fluctuations data useful for distance determinations. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 128, 431–459 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Pavlovsky, C. et al. ACS Instrument Handbook Version 3.0 99 (STScI, Baltimore, 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Fransson, C., Lundqvist, P. & Chevalier, R. A. Circumstellar interaction in SN1993J. Astrophys. J. 461, 993–1008 (1996)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the University of Hawaii. We thank R. Ryans for providing us with new TLUSTY calculations of the hydrogen line spectra for B-type supergiants. J.R.M. and S.J.S. thank PPARC for financial support and thank A. D. Mackey and J. Mack for advice concerning photometric data analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, CB3 0HA, Cambridge, UK

    Justyn R. Maund, Stephen J. Smartt & Gerard F. Gilmore

  2. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2860 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii, USA

    Rolf P. Kudritzki

  3. University of Oxford, Astrophysics, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK

    Philipp Podsiadlowski

Authors
  1. Justyn R. Maund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stephen J. Smartt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rolf P. Kudritzki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Philipp Podsiadlowski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gerard F. Gilmore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Justyn R. Maund.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Maund, J., Smartt, S., Kudritzki, R. et al. The massive binary companion star to the progenitor of supernova 1993J. Nature 427, 129–131 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02161

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02161

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing