A consolidated grant for Sheffield Astrophysics - Transfer to Royal Holloway
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Holloway University of London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The short lifetimes of massive stars means they will die as core-collapse supernovae close to where they were born, surrounded by the massive stars that formed alongside them. Stripped-envelope Type Ibc SNe, in other galaxies, are associated with strong H II region emission, suggesting young, high mass (>30Msun) progenitors, but this is in direct conflict with limits on the progenitors from pre-explosion observations (implying <25Msun stars in binaries). We request support for a unique synergy between our Hubble Space Telescope UV observations and Integral Field Spectroscopy with WEAVE to probe the physical connection between the stellar and gas components in the
resolved environments around Type Ibc supernovae, and reconcile the conflict between the inferred progenitor masses once and for all.
resolved environments around Type Ibc supernovae, and reconcile the conflict between the inferred progenitor masses once and for all.
Publications
Maund J
(2024)
Exploring the polarization of axially symmetric supernovae with unsupervised deep learning
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vasylyev S
(2024)
Spectropolarimetry of the Type IIP supernova 2021yja: an unusually high continuum polarization during the photospheric phase
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zhao Y
(2025)
Exclusion of a Direct Progenitor Detection for the Type Ic SN 2017ein Based on Late-time Observations
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters