Weak Mass Loss from the Red Supergiant Progenitor of the Type II SN 2021yja. (arXiv:2203.08155v2 [astro-ph.HE] UPDATED)

Weak Mass Loss from the Red Supergiant Progenitor of the Type II SN 2021yja. (arXiv:2203.08155v2 [astro-ph.HE] UPDATED)
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hosseinzadeh_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Griffin Hosseinzadeh</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kilpatrick_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Charles D. Kilpatrick</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Dong_Y/0/1/0/all/0/1">Yize Dong</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sand_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">David J. Sand</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Andrews_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jennifer E. Andrews</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bostroem_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">K. Azalee Bostroem</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Janzen_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Daryl Janzen</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Jencson_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jacob E. Jencson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lundquist_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Michael Lundquist</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Retamal_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nicolas E. Meza Retamal</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Pearson_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jeniveve Pearson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Valenti_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Stefano Valenti</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Wyatt_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Samuel Wyatt</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Burke_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jamison Burke</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hiramatsu_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Daichi Hiramatsu</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Howell_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. Andrew Howell</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+McCully_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Curtis McCully</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Newsome_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Megan Newsome</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gonzalez_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Estefania Padilla Gonzalez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Pellegrino_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Craig Pellegrino</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Terreran_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Giacomo Terreran</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Auchettl_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Katie Auchettl</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Davis_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kyle W. Davis</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Foley_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ryan J. Foley</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Miao_H/0/1/0/all/0/1">Hao-Yu Miao</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Pan_Y/0/1/0/all/0/1">Yen-Chen Pan</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Rest_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Armin Rest</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Siebert_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Matthew R. Siebert</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Taggart_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kirsty Taggart</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Tucker_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Brad E. Tucker</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Leung_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">Feng Lin Cyrus Leung</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Swift_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jonathan J. Swift</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Yang_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Grace Yang</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Anderson_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Joseph P. Anderson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ashall_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Chris Ashall</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Benetti_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Stefano Benetti</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Brown_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Peter J. Brown</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Cartier_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Régis Cartier</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Chen_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ting-Wan Chen</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Valle_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Massimo Della Valle</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Galbany_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Lluís Galbany</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gomez_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sebastian Gomez</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gromadzki_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Mariusz Gromadzki</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Haislip_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Joshua Haislip</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hsiao_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Eric Y. Hsiao</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Inserra_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Cosimo Inserra</a>, et al. (13 additional authors not shown)

We present high-cadence optical, ultraviolet (UV), and near-infrared data of
the nearby ($Dapprox23$ Mpc) Type II supernova (SN) 2021yja. Many Type II SNe
show signs of interaction with circumstellar material (CSM) during the first
few days after explosion, implying that their red supergiant (RSG) progenitors
experience episodic or eruptive mass loss. However, because it is difficult to
discover SNe early, the diversity of CSM configurations in RSGs has not been
fully mapped. SN 2021yja, first detected within ${approx}5.4$ hours of
explosion, shows some signatures of CSM interaction (high UV luminosity, radio
and x-ray emission) but without the narrow emission lines or early light curve
peak that can accompany CSM. Here we analyze the densely sampled early light
curve and spectral series of this nearby SN to infer the properties of its
progenitor and CSM. We find that the most likely progenitor was an RSG with an
extended envelope, encompassed by low-density CSM. We also present archival
Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the host galaxy of SN 2021yja, which allows
us to place a stringent upper limit of ${lesssim}9 M_odot$ on the progenitor
mass. However, this is in tension with some aspects of the SN evolution, which
point to a more massive progenitor. Our analysis highlights the need to
consider progenitor structure when making inferences about CSM properties, and
that a comprehensive view of CSM tracers should be made to give a fuller view
of the last years of RSG evolution.

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