Upper limits on the progenitor of SN 2014J based on NIR HST archival observations.
ATel #5849; N. Elias-Rosa, L. Greggio (INAF - Padova), M. T. Botticella (INAF - Naples)
on 4 Feb 2014; 10:59 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Supernovae
Credential Certification: N. Elias-Rosa (nancy.elias@oapd.inaf.it)
Subjects: Infra-Red, Supernovae
Referred to by ATel #: 5933
Following the ATel #5824, we have analyzed deep archival Hubble Space Telescope WFC3/IR images (Hubble Legacy Archive) of M82 in F110W (~ wide YJ band, 1195.39 s total) and F160W (~ WFC3 band, 2395.39 s total) taken on 2010 January (GO-11360; PI: R. O'Connell), and used them to attempt to identify a progenitor for the SN by registering the HST images with images of the SN taken on Jan. 23.05 2014 (UT) at Loiano Observatory (ATel #5818).
We did not find clear evidence of a progenitor within a radius of 0.65'' from the position of Type Ia SN 2014J in any of the near-infrared images. This fact is in agreement with the results reported in ATel #5789 and 5824. Upper limits on the progenitor candidate magnitudes were performed from the ensemble of the individual WFC3 exposures using Dolphot v2.0 (Dolphin 2000, PASP, 112, 1383), obtaining F110W >~ 25.5 and F160W >~ 24.3 mag (based on photometry of nearby faint sources). Assuming a distance modulus to the host galaxy of 27.72 mag (Karachentsev & Kashibadze, 2006, Ap, 49, 3) and considering the full range of the possible value of extinction (see ATel #5816, 5818, 5830), from E(B-V)=1.2 to E(B-V)=0.14, the latter being the Galactic foreground, (Schlafly & Finkbeiner 2011, ApJ, 737, 103), we obtain an approximate absolute magnitudes range between -3.3 and -2.3 mag in F110W band and between -4.1 and -3.5 mag in F160W band. These upper limits correspond to luminosities between those of the recurrent novae T Cr B and the RS Oph (ATel #5824).
Comparing to evolutionary tracks we find that these upper limits are consistent with the donor star (if non degenerate) being a subgiant burning H in a shell, prior to core Helium ignition (case B Roche Lobe Overflow). If the donor was an intermediate (~ 5 solar masses) mass star, contact occurred when the star was in the Hertzsprung gap, and its remnant could be a living Helium star; if the donor was a low mass star, the remnant will become a Helium WD. Future data will provide important clues on these scenarios.
