NuSTAR detection of SN 2023ixf in M101
ATel #16049; Brian Grefenstette (Caltech)
on 23 May 2023; 16:32 UT
Credential Certification: Brian Grefenstette (Bwgref@srl.caltech.edu)
Subjects: X-ray, Supernovae
The supernova SN 2023ixf was discovered by K. Itagaki in M101. Following the classification as a Type II SN (Perley et al., AstroNote 2023-119) we requested a NuSTAR DDT observation of SN2023ixf. The observation commenced on 2023-05-22T17:56:09, or roughly 3 days after the discovery of the SNe. We downloaded and analyzed the first 20-ks of the quicklook NuSTAR data.
NuSTAR clearly detects a point source at the location of SN 2023ixf. The source is strongly detected from 3-20 keV in NuSTAR. The source spectrum is described by a highly absorbed continuum along with a strong emission line likely associated with neutral Fe near 6.4 keV. The absorbing column is best-fit to be >2e23 cm2 with a power-law index (Gamma) of 1.3. The equivalent width of the Fe line is ~0.9 keV.
The extrapolated broadband (0.03 to 30 keV) flux is 2.3e-12 ergs / cm2 / sec. For a distance of 6.4 Mpc, this corresponds to an intrinsic (absorbed) luminosity of 1.1e40 ergs / s.
The NuSTAR observation is on-going.
We thank the NuSTAR PI Fiona Harrison for approving this DDT request and the NuSTAR Operations team for the prompt scheduling of this observation.
