Open AccessA young stellar environment for the superluminous supernova PTF12dam
Author(s) -
C. C. Thöne,
A. de Ugarte Postigo,
R. García-Benito,
G. Leloudas,
S. Schulze,
R. Amorín
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.067
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1745-3933
pISSN - 1745-3925
DOI - 10.1093/mnrasl/slv051
Subject(s) - physics , astrophysics , supernova , galaxy , metallicity , stars , star formation , astronomy , dwarf galaxy , population , medicine , environmental health
The progenitors of super luminous supernovae (SLSNe) are still a mystery. Hydrogen-poor SLSN hosts are often highly star-forming dwarf galaxies and the majority belongs to the class of extreme emission line galaxies hosting young and highly star-forming stellar populations. Here we present a resolved long-slit study of the host of the hydrogen-poor SLSN PTF12dam probing the kpc environment of the SN site to determine the age of the progenitor. The galaxy is a "tadpole" with uniform properties and the SN occurred in a star-forming region in the head of the tadpole. The galaxy experienced a recent star-burst superimposed on an underlying old stellar population. We measure a very young stellar population at the SN site with an age of ~3 Myr and a metallicity of 12+log(O/H)=8.0 at the SN site but do not observe any WR features. The progenitor of PTF12dam must have been a massive star of at least 60 M_solar and one of the first stars exploding as a SN in this extremely young starburst.
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