iPTF13bvn: the first evidence of a binary progenitor for a type Ib supernova

Abstract

The recent detection in archival Hubble Space Telescope images of an object at the location of supernova (SN) iPTF13bvn may represent the first direct evidence of the progenitor of a Type Ib SN. The object's photometry was found to be compatible with a Wolf-Rayet pre-SN star mass of ≈11 M ☉. However, based on hydrodynamical models, we show that the progenitor had a pre-SN mass of ≈3.5 M ☉ and that it could not be larger than ≈8 M ☉. We propose an interacting binary system as the SN progenitor and perform evolutionary calculations that are able to self-consistently explain the light curve shape, the absence of hydrogen, and the pre-SN photometry. We further discuss the range of allowed binary systems and predict that the remaining companion is a luminous O-type star of significantly lower flux in the optical than the pre-SN object. A future detection of such a star may be possible and would provide the first robust identification of a progenitor system for a Type Ib SN.