Core-collapse supernova (SN) explosions mark the end of the tumultuous life of massive stars. Determining the nature of their progenitors is a crucial step towards understanding the properties of SNe. Until recently, no progenitor has been directly detected for SN of type Ibc, which are believed to come from massive stars that lose their Hydrogen envelope through stellar winds and from binary systems where the companion has stripped the H envelope from the primary. Here we analyze recently-reported observations of iPTF13bvn, which could possibly be the first detection of a SN Ib progenitor based on pre-explosion images.
Authors: Jose H. Groh (Geneva Observatory, Switzerland), Cyril Georgy (Keele University, UK), Sylvia Ekstrom (Geneva Observatory, Switzerland)