SN 2020oi

SN 2020oi

2020 light curves for SN 2020oi in four photometric bands, adapted from Rho et al. (2021)
Event type	Supernova
Type Ic
Date	January 7, 2020
Instrument	ZTF
Constellation	Coma Berenices
Right ascension	12h 22m 54.925s
Declination	+15° 49′ 25.05″
Epoch	J2000
Distance	46 Mly (14 Mpc)
Host	Messier 100
Progenitor type	Envelope-stripped massive star
Peak apparent magnitude	17.28
Total energy output	~1051 erg

SN 2020oi was a supernova event in the grand design spiral galaxy known as Messier 100, or NGC 4321. It was discovered January 7, 2020 at an apparent magnitude of 17.28 by F. Forster and associates using the Zwicky Transient Facility. The position places it ~4.67″ north of the galactic nucleus. The supernova was not detected on an observation made three days before the discovery, and thus it must have begun during that brief period. The light curve peaked around January 13–18, depending on the wavelength, then declined rapidly over a period of 25 days before flattening into a more gradual decline. Observations of the spectrum made with the SOAR telescope showed this to be a type Ic supernova, with the progenitor being a massive star that had its outer envelope stripped. The initial velocity of the expanding photosphere was ~15,000 km/s.

Models of the event give an initial (zero age main sequence) estimated mass of 9.5±1.0 M_☉ or 13 M_☉ for the progenitor. It was a member of a binary star system and lost its outer envelope of hydrogen and helium due to interaction with its companion. The resulting helium-poor star was primarily made of carbon and oxygen with a mass of about 2.16 M_☉. The supernova explosion was the result of a collapse of an inert iron core. The event ejected 0.71 M_☉ of material and left behind a neutron star remnant with a presumed mass of 1.45 M_☉. The explosion released about 10⁵¹ erg of energy, of which 60% was expended on kinetic energy.

This is one of the few type Ic supernovae for which radio emission has been detected. Based on this data, the shock wave from the explosion advanced through the surrounding interstellar matter with a velocity of 3−4×10⁴ km/s. In order to produce the observed emission, the progenitor star underwent mass loss at an average rate of 1.4×10⁻⁴ M_☉·yr⁻¹ at a typical wind velocity of ~1,000 km/s. Images of the location taken prior to the event using the Hubble Space Telescope show a stellar cluster at that location.

Further reading

• Dutta, Anirban; et al. (January 2020), "Optical spectrum of SN 2020oi (ZTF20aaelulu)", The Astronomer's Telegram, 13404 (13404): 1, Bibcode:2020ATel13404....1D.
• Horesh, A.; Sfaradi, I. (January 2020), "An Initial Analysis of the VLA Observation of the Nearby Supernova SN2020oi in M100", The Astronomer's Telegram, 13398 (13398): 1, Bibcode:2020ATel13398....1H.
• Sfaradi, Itai; et al. (January 2020), "AMI-LA 15.5 GHz Observations of the Nearby Supernova SN2020oi", The Astronomer's Telegram, 13401 (13401): 1, Bibcode:2020ATel13401....1S.
• Moldon, J.; et al. (February 2020), "e-MERLIN radio detection of SN 2020oi at 5 GHz", The Astronomer's Telegram, 13448 (13448): 1, Bibcode:2020ATel13448....1M.
• Maeda, Keiichi; et al. (June 22, 2021), "The Final Months of Massive Star Evolution from the Circumstellar Environment around SN Ic 2020oi", The Astrophysical Journal, 918 (1): 34, arXiv:2106.11618, Bibcode:2021ApJ...918...34M, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac0dbc, S2CID 235592953
• Tinyanont, Samaporn; et al. (2021), "Infrared spectropolarimetric detection of intrinsic polarization from a core-collapse supernova", Nature Astronomy, 5 (6): 544–551, arXiv:2102.02075, Bibcode:2021NatAs...5..544T, doi:10.1038/s41550-021-01320-4, S2CID 231786458.