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Progenitor Stars of Core-Collapse Supernovae from Archival Roman Wide-Field Imaging
Program ID 19050
Science Category Stellar Physics
Program Type Analysis
Category Small
Principal Investigator Charles Kilpatrick
PI Institution Northwestern University
Co-Investigators
  • David Coulter (Space Telescope Science Institute / STScI)
  • Maria Drout (University of Toronto)
  • Griffin Hosseinzadeh (University of California, San Diego)
  • Wynn Jacobson-Galan (California Institute of Technology)
  • Jacob Jencson (California Institute of Technology / IPAC)
  • David Sand (University of Arizona)
  • Aswin Suresh (Northwestern University)
  • Kirsty Taggart (Universities Space Research Association)
Abstract Supernova progenitor research has benefited from space-based archives that resolve individual massive stars in pre-explosion imaging of nearby (<40 Mpc) galaxies. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will provide wide-field NIR imaging across ~12% of the sky via HLWAS and time-domain programs; within 40 Mpc, >400 galaxies fall in the HLWAS footprint. When core-collapse SNe are discovered by Rubin, ZTF, or other facilities, pre-explosion Roman imaging will often exist. This program will analyze pre-explosion Roman imaging of core-collapse SNe within 40 Mpc, combining HST, JWST, Euclid, and Rubin data where available, to identify progenitor candidates or set upper limits and perform multi-band NIR photometry and SED modeling. The analysis will provide insight into the red supergiant problem (lack of detected RSG progenitors above ~20 M_sun or log(L/L_sun)>5.2), dust-enshrouded Type II systems, stripped-envelope (Ib/c) progenitor diversity, and Type IIn/IIb progenitors requiring IR data to separate evolved primaries from companions. Roman's HST-like NIR resolution and wide field are critical for deblending counterparts in crowded hosts where time-domain surveys find transients but struggle to identify progenitors. Deliverables include a catalog of progenitor candidates and upper limits with photometry and derived luminosities and masses, a population-level comparison to a Salpeter IMF and explosion-outcome predictions, and publications and public data products released upon publication.