Abstract
We present late-time Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet (UV) and optical observations of the site of SN 2011dh in the galaxy M51, ~1164 days post-explosion. At the supernova (SN) location, we observe a point source that is visible at all wavelengths, which is significantly fainter than the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the yellow supergiant progenitor observed prior to explosion. The previously reported photometry of the progenitor is, therefore, completely unaffected by any sources that may persist at the SN location after explosion. In comparison with the previously reported late-time photometric evolution of SN 2011dh, we find that the light curve has plateaued at all wavelengths. The SED of the late-time source is clearly inconsistent with an SED of stellar origin. Although the SED is bright at UV wavelengths, there is no strong evidence that the late-time luminosity originates solely from a stellar source corresponding to the binary companion, although a partial contribution to the observed UV flux from a companion star cannot be ruled out.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2580-2585 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
| Volume | 454 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 11 Dec 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We are very grateful to Anders Jerkstrand for providing us with access to his late-time model spectra of SN 2011dh. The research of JRM is supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. CG acknowledges support from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP/2007-2013)/ERC Grant Agreement No. 306901.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Author.
Keywords
- Supernovae: general
- Supernovae: individual: 2011dh