Supergiant Stars - Supernova Progenitors

Supernova Progenitors

Most type II supernova progenitors are thought to be red supergiants, while the less common type Ib/c supernovae are produced by hotter Wolf-Rayet stars that have completely lost more of their hydrogen atmosphere. Almost by definition, supergiants are destined to end their lives violently. Stars that are large enough to start fusing elements heavier than helium just do not seem to have any way to lose enough mass to avoid catastrophic core collapse, although some of them may collapse almost without trace into their own central black holes.

However, the simple "onion" models showing red supergiants inevitably developing to an iron core and then exploding have been shown to be much too simplistic. The progenitor for the unusual type II-P Supernova 1987A was a blue supergiant, thought to have already passed through the red supergiant phase of its life, and this is now known to be far from an exceptional situation. Much research is now focused on how blue supergiants can explode as a supernova and when red supergiants can survive to become hotter supergiants again.