Radio Observations of SN 1980K: Evidence for Rapid Presupernova Evolution

New observations of SN 1980K made with the VLA at 20 and 6 cm from 1994 Aprilthrough 1996 October show that the supernova (SN) has undergone a significantchange in its radio emission evolution, dropping by a factor of ~2 below theflux density S \propto t^{-0.73} power-law decline with time t observedearlier. However, although S at all observed frequencies has decreasedsignificantly, its current spectral index of \alpha= -0.42\pm0.15 (S \propto\nu^{+\alpha}) is consistent with the previous spectral index of\alpha=-0.60_{-0.07}^{+0.04}. It is suggested that this decrease in emission may be due to the SN shockentering a new region of the circumstellar material which has a lower densitythan that expected for a constant speed (w), constant mass-loss rate (Mdot)wind from the progenitor. If such an interpretation is correct, the differencein wind and shock speeds appears to indicate a significant evolution in themass-loss history of the SN progenitor ~10^4 years before explosion, with achange in circumstellar density (\propto Mdot/w) occurring over a time span of\lesssim 4 kyr. Such features could be explained in terms of a fast``blue-loop'' evolutionary phase of a relatively massive pre-SN progenitorstar. If so, we may, for the first time, provide a stringent constraint on themass of the SN progenitor based solely on the SN's radio emission.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Ap