Radiation Hydrodynamic Simulations of Low-Energy Explosions of Red and Yellow Supergiants

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Antoni, Andrea, Jiang, Yan-Fei, Quataert, Eliot
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Antoni, Andrea
Jiang, Yan-Fei
Quataert, Eliot
author_facet Antoni, Andrea
Jiang, Yan-Fei
Quataert, Eliot
contents A variety of physical processes leads to the low-energy ejection of material from the hydrogen-rich envelopes of red and yellow supergiants. These include common envelope events, stellar mergers, eruptive mass loss, and failed supernovae. These events may appear as luminous red novae, intermediate luminosity red transients, supernova imposters, or other transients with similar lightcurves and colors that are followed by the disappearance of the progenitor star (e.g. failed supernovae). The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will find these events in large numbers; detailed modeling of their lightcurves is essential for photometrically differentiating between these important physical processes in the lives of massive stars. We use one-dimensional, radiation hydrodynamic simulations to model the lightcurves of low-energy explosions of red and yellow supergiants. Red supergiant explosions have durations of 100-400 days, longer than Type IIp supernovae, while stripped, yellow supergiant explosions have durations of 10s of days. Our models probe the boundary between the radiation-pressure dominated and gas-pressure dominated regimes. We provide fitting formulae for the plateau luminosity and duration of the events. Finally, we show that the failed supernovae candidates in NGC 6946 and M31 are consistent with failed supernovae models for explosion energies of $\sim10^{47}-10^{49}$ erg.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_16308
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Radiation Hydrodynamic Simulations of Low-Energy Explosions of Red and Yellow Supergiants
Antoni, Andrea
Jiang, Yan-Fei
Quataert, Eliot
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
A variety of physical processes leads to the low-energy ejection of material from the hydrogen-rich envelopes of red and yellow supergiants. These include common envelope events, stellar mergers, eruptive mass loss, and failed supernovae. These events may appear as luminous red novae, intermediate luminosity red transients, supernova imposters, or other transients with similar lightcurves and colors that are followed by the disappearance of the progenitor star (e.g. failed supernovae). The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will find these events in large numbers; detailed modeling of their lightcurves is essential for photometrically differentiating between these important physical processes in the lives of massive stars. We use one-dimensional, radiation hydrodynamic simulations to model the lightcurves of low-energy explosions of red and yellow supergiants. Red supergiant explosions have durations of 100-400 days, longer than Type IIp supernovae, while stripped, yellow supergiant explosions have durations of 10s of days. Our models probe the boundary between the radiation-pressure dominated and gas-pressure dominated regimes. We provide fitting formulae for the plateau luminosity and duration of the events. Finally, we show that the failed supernovae candidates in NGC 6946 and M31 are consistent with failed supernovae models for explosion energies of $\sim10^{47}-10^{49}$ erg.
title Radiation Hydrodynamic Simulations of Low-Energy Explosions of Red and Yellow Supergiants
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.16308