Sanduleak -69 202
Sanduleak -69 202 (Sk -69 202, also known as GSC 09162-00821) was a magnitude 12 blue supergiant star, located on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is notable as the progenitor of supernova 1987A.
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Dorado |
| Right ascension | 05h 35m 27.92s[1] |
| Declination | −69° 16′ 11.1″[1] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | B3 Ia[2] |
| Astrometry | |
| Distance | 168,000 ly (51,400[1] pc) |
| Details | |
| Mass | ~20[2] M☉ |
| Radius | 39.6 R☉ |
| Luminosity | ~100,000[2] L☉ |
| Temperature | 16,000[2] K |
| Other designations | |
Sk -69 202, GSC 09162-00821 | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
The star was originally charted by the Romanian-American astronomer Nicholas Sanduleak in 1970, but remained just a number in a catalogue until identified as the star that exploded in the first naked eye supernova since the invention of the telescope,[1] when its maximum reached visual magnitude +2.8.[3]
The discovery that a blue supergiant was a supernova progenitor contradicted all known theories at the time and produced a flurry of new ideas about how such a thing might happen,[4] but it is now accepted that blue supergiants are a normal progenitor for some supernovae.[5]
The candidate luminous blue variable HD 168625 possesses a bipolar nebula that is a close twin of that around Sk -69 202. It is speculated that Sk -69 202 may have been a luminous blue variable in the recent past, although it was apparently a normal luminous supergiant at the time it exploded.[2]
References
- Sanduleak, N. (1970). "A deep objective-prism survey for Large Magellanic Cloud members". Contribution. 89. Bibcode:1970CoTol..89.....S.
- Smith, N. (2007). "Discovery of a Nearby Twin of SN 1987A's Nebula around the Luminous Blue Variable HD 168625: Was Sk -69 202 an LBV?". The Astronomical Journal. 133 (3): 1034–1538. arXiv:astro-ph/0611544. Bibcode:2007AJ....133.1034S. doi:10.1086/510838. S2CID 17598600.
- "SN 1987A". The International Variable Star Index. AAVSO – American Association of Variable Star Observers. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- Podsiadlowski, P. (1992). "The progenitor of SN 1987 A". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 104: 717. Bibcode:1992PASP..104..717P. doi:10.1086/133043.
- Georgy, C.; Meynet, G.; Walder, R.; Folini, D.; Maeder, A. (2009). "The different progenitors of type Ib, Ic SNe, and of GRB". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 502 (2): 611. arXiv:0906.2284. Bibcode:2009A&A...502..611G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200811339. S2CID 1660838.
