The bright, dusty aftermath of giant eruptions and H-rich supernovae

Late interaction of supernova shocks and dusty circumstellar shells created by 45, 50, and 60 M_⊙ stars

¹ Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica Óptica y Electrónica, AP 51, 72000 Puebla, Mexico
² Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Boční II 1401/1, 141 00 Praha 4, Czech Republic

^★ Corresponding author; sergiomtz@inaoep.mx

Received: 24 February 2024
Accepted: 12 February 2025

Abstract

Context. The late-stage evolution of massive stars is marked by periods of intense instability as they transit towards their final corecollapse. Within these periods, stellar eruptions stand out due to their hallmark of exceptionally high mass-loss rates, resulting in the formation of copious amounts of dust. However, the survival of these dust grains is threatened by the powerful shock waves generated when the progenitor star explodes as a supernova (SN).

Aims. We aim to assess the impact of selected cases of hydrogen-rich SN explosions from progenitors of 45, 50, and 60 M_⊙ on dust grains formed after giant stellar eruptions, exploring late interactions with circumstellar shells that occur a few years to centuries after the eruption.

Methods. We present 3D hydrodynamical simulations that follow the evolution of dust particles in a scenario that includes, for the first time, the progenitor’s stellar wind, a giant stellar eruption, and the eventual SN explosion, while in line with the mass budget prescribed by stellar evolutionary models.

Results. For a standard SN ejecta mass of 10 M_⊙, kinetic energy of 10⁵¹ erg, and a long 200-year eruption-SN gap, only 25% of the dust mass remains 250 years post-explosion in a spherical circumstellar medium (CSM), and only 2% a century after the explosion in a bipolar CSM. Conversely, a shorter gap of a dozen years preserves 75% of the dust mass after shock-processing for a standard explosion, while this drops to 20% for more massive (15-20 M_⊙) ejecta with kinetic energy of 5 × 10⁵¹ erg.

Conclusions. The CSM geometry and an early SN remnant transition to a radiative phase impact dust survival. As the shock wave weakens from efficiently converting kinetic energy into thermal radiation (up to half of the injected kinetic energy), there is a greater potential for survival, not only for dust in the CSM but also for SN-condensed dust (due to a weaker SN reverse shock), and pre-existing dust in the ambient ISM. Against expectations, a larger fraction of the dust mass can survive if the SN occurs just a few years after the eruption event.