Chandra Observations of SN 2004et and the X-Ray Emission of Type II-P Supernovae

Abstract

We report the X-ray detection of the Type II-P (plateau) supernova SN 2004et in the spiral galaxy NGC 6946, using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The position of the X-ray source was found to agree with the optical position within ~0.4". Chandra also surveyed the region before the 2004 event, finding no X-ray emission at the location of the progenitor. For the postexplosion observations, a total of 202, 151, and 158 photons were detected in three pointings, each 29 ks in length, on 2004 October 22, November 6, and December 3, respectively. The spectrum of the first observation is best fit by a thermal model with a temperature of kT = 1.3^(+∞)_(-0.8) keV and a line-of-sight absorption of N_H = (1.0 ± 1.0) × 10^(22) cm^(-2). The inferred unabsorbed luminosity (0.4-8 keV) is ~4 × 10^(38) erg s^(-1), adopting a distance of 5.5 Mpc. A comparison between hard and soft counts on the first and third epochs indicates a softening over this time, although there is an insufficient number of photons to constrain the variation of temperature and absorption by spectral fitting. We model the emission as arising from the reverse-shock region in the interaction between the supernova ejecta and the progenitor wind. For a Type II-P supernova with an extended progenitor, the cool shell formed at the time of shock wave breakout from the star can affect the initial evolution of the interaction shell and the absorption of radiation from the reverse shock. The observed spectral softening might be due to decreasing shell absorption. We find a presupernova mass-loss rate of (2-2.5) × 10^(-6) M_⊙ yr^(-1) for a wind velocity of 10 km s^(-1), which is in line with expectations for a Type II-P supernova.

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