11:00 am–12:00 pm ERC 545
Host: Benedikt Schroer
Wynn Jacobson-Galan (UC Berkeley) "SN 2023ixf: The Closest Supernova in a Decade"
Supernova 2023ixf exploded on May 18th, 2023 in the nearby galaxy Messier 101, making it the closest supernova in the last decade. Following its discovery, astronomers around the world rushed to observe the explosion across the electromagnetic spectrum (X-ray to radio) in order to uncover its early-time properties. Based on the findings of a number of studies produced in the first months since discovery, supernova 2023ixf is a type II supernova that interacted with dense, confined circumstellar material in its local environment; this material being lost from its red supergiant progenitor in the final years before explosion. In this talk, I will review the present multi-wavelength findings on SN 2023ixf as it pertains to the identity and mass-loss history of the progenitor star as well as the physics of the explosion itself.
