Luminosity distribution of Type II supernova progenitors

Abstract

ABSTRACT I present progenitor luminosities (L) for a sample of 112 Type II supernovae (SNe II), computed directly from progenitor photometry and the bolometric correction technique, or indirectly from empirical correlations between progenitor luminosity and [${\rm O\, \small {I}}$] λλ6300, 6364 line luminosity at 350 d since explosion, 56Ni mass, or absolute V-band magnitude at 50 d since explosion. To calibrate these correlations, I use 12 SNe II with progenitor luminosities measured from progenitor photometry. I find that the correlations mentioned above are strong and statistically significant, and allow to estimate progenitor luminosities to a precision between 20 and 24 per cent. I correct the SN sample for selection bias and define a subsample of 112 SNe II with progenitor luminosities between log (L/L⊙) = 4.6 dex, corresponding to the completeness limit of the corrected sample, and the maximum observed progenitor luminosity of log (L/L⊙) = 5.091 dex. The luminosity distribution for this subsample is statistically consistent with those for red supergiants (RSGs) in LMC, SMC, M31, and M33 with 4.6 ≤ log (L/L⊙) ≤ 5.091. This supports that SN II progenitors correspond to RSGs. The conspicuous absence of SN II progenitors with log (L/L⊙) > 5.1 dex with respect to what is observed in RSG luminosity distributions, known as the RSG problem, is significant at a $5.2\pm 0.5\, \sigma$ level.