1 research outputs found
The possible detection of a binary companion to a Type Ibn supernova progenitor
We present late-time observations of the site of the Type Ibn supernova (SN) 2006jc, acquired with the Hubble
Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys. A faint blue source is recovered at the SN position, with
brightness mF W 435 = 26.76 0.20, mF W 555 = 26.60 0.23 and mF W 625 = 26.32 0.19 mag, although there is
no detection in a contemporaneous narrow-band Ha image. The spectral energy distribution of the late-time source
is well-fit by a stellar-like spectrum (log 3.7 Teff > and log L L > 4), subject to only a small degree of reddening
—consistent with that estimated for SN 2006jc itself at early-times. The lack of further outbursts after the
explosion of SN 2006jc suggests that the precursor outburst originated from the progenitor. The possibility of the
source being a compact host cluster is ruled out on the basis of the source’s faintness; however, the possibility that
the late-time source may be an unresolved light echo originating in a shell or sphere of pre-SN dust (within a radius
1 pc) is also discussed. Irrespective of the nature of the late-time source, these observations rule out a luminous
blue variable as a companion to the progenitor of SN 2006jc