Abstract
We present optical and near-infrared (NIR) photometry and NIR
spectroscopy of SN 2004am, the only optically detected supernova (SN) in
M82. These demonstrate that SN 2004am was a highly reddened Type II-P SN
similar to the low-luminosity Type II-P events such as SNe 1997D and
2005cs. We show that SN 2004am was located coincident with the obscured
super star cluster M82-L, and from the cluster age infer a progenitor
mass of 12{^{+ 7}_{- 3}} M⊙. In addition to this, we
present a high spatial resolution Gemini-North Telescope K-band adaptive
optics image of the site of SN 2008iz and a second transient of
uncertain nature, both detected so far only at radio wavelengths. Using
image subtraction techniques together with archival data from the Hubble
Space Telescope, we are able to recover a NIR transient source
coincident with both objects. We find the likely extinction towards SN
2008iz to be not more than AV ˜ 10. The nature of the
second transient remains elusive and we regard an extremely bright
microquasar in M82 as the most plausible scenario.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2050-2062 |
Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
Volume | 431 |
Publication status | Published - 01 May 2013 |
Keywords
- supernovae: general
- supernovae: individual: SN 2004am
- supernovae: individual: SN 2008iz
- galaxies: individual: M82
- galaxies: starburst
- infrared: galaxies