Constraints on the Progenitor of SN 2023bee from its Nebular-Phase Spectra
Abstract
We present late-time photometry (~100-400 days after peak) and nebular-phase optical/NIR spectroscopy (100-360 days) of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) SN 2023bee. This SN Ia was observed TESS immediately before and after explosion and showed a relatively weak early excess light-curve feature detected in multiple UV and optical bands. Possible explanations for this early excess feature include interaction between the SN ejecta and a non-degenerate companion, or the decay of radioactive isotopes synthesized near the ejecta surface in a sub-MCh double-detonation scenario. However, the degeneracies and incompleteness of existing models have so far prevented a definitive conclusion about its progenitor system. Nebular-phase spectra provide a complementary probe of SN Ia progenitors by constraining stripped H/He-rich material and iron-group abundances sensitive to the progenitor white dwarf density. We report the non-detection of narrow H/He features in nebular phase optical/NIR spectra of SN 2023bee, placing upper limits of mstrippedH≲5.0×10−3 M⊙ and mHestripped≲1.2×10−4 M⊙. These limits strongly disfavor a non-degenerate companion and suggest that companion interaction is unlikely to explain the early excess of SN 2023bee. We also performed line-diagnostic measurements on the 7200 Åcomplex using multi-Gaussian fitting and continuum estimation, with the inferred velocities validated against NIR spectrum at the similar phase. The resulting low Ni-to-Fe mass ratio, mNi/mFe≲ 0.06, is broadly consistent with a sub-MCh double-detonation progenitor system.
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BibTeX
@misc{coelln2026constraints,
title = {{Constraints on the Progenitor of SN 2023bee from its Nebular-Phase Spectra}},
author = {Sophie von Coelln and Qinan Wang and Matthew R. Siebert and Ping Chen and Armin Rest and Luc Dessart and Yossef Zenati and Georgios Dimitriadis and Katie Auchettl and Siyuan Chen and Kyle W. Davis and Thomas de Boer and Ryan J. Foley and Avishay Gal-Yam and Willem B. Hoogendam and Mark E. Huber and Luca Izzo and Charles D. Kilpatrick and Chien-Cheng Lin and Chang Liu and Thomas Bernard Lowe and Gautham Narayan and César Rojas-Bravo and Aidan Sedgewick and Koji Shukawa and Richard J. Wainscoat},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.25674},
eprint = {2610.25674},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.25674},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Constraints on the Progenitor of SN 2023bee from its Nebular-Phase Spectra
AU - Sophie von Coelln
AU - Qinan Wang
AU - Matthew R. Siebert
AU - Ping Chen
AU - Armin Rest
AU - Luc Dessart
AU - Yossef Zenati
AU - Georgios Dimitriadis
AU - Katie Auchettl
AU - Siyuan Chen
AU - Kyle W. Davis
AU - Thomas de Boer
AU - Ryan J. Foley
AU - Avishay Gal-Yam
AU - Willem B. Hoogendam
AU - Mark E. Huber
AU - Luca Izzo
AU - Charles D. Kilpatrick
AU - Chien-Cheng Lin
AU - Chang Liu
AU - Thomas Bernard Lowe
AU - Gautham Narayan
AU - César Rojas-Bravo
AU - Aidan Sedgewick
AU - Koji Shukawa
AU - Richard J. Wainscoat
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.25674
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.25674
AB - We present late-time photometry (~100-400 days after peak) and nebular-phase optical/NIR spectroscopy (100-360 days) of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) SN 2023bee. This SN Ia was observed TESS immediately before and after explosion and showed a relatively weak early excess light-curve feature detected in multiple UV and optical bands. Possible explanations for this early excess feature include interaction between the SN ejecta and a non-degenerate companion, or the decay of radioactive isotopes synthesized near the ejecta surface in a sub-M_Ch double-detonation scenario. However, the degeneracies and incompleteness of existing models have so far prevented a definitive conclusion about its progenitor system. Nebular-phase spectra provide a complementary probe of SN Ia progenitors by constraining stripped H/He-rich material and iron-group abundances sensitive to the progenitor white dwarf density. We report the non-detection of narrow H/He features in nebular phase optical/NIR spectra of SN 2023bee, placing upper limits of m^stripped_H≲5.0×10^−3 M_⊙ and m_He^stripped≲1.2×10^−4 M_⊙. These limits strongly disfavor a non-degenerate companion and suggest that companion interaction is unlikely to explain the early excess of SN 2023bee. We also performed line-diagnostic measurements on the 7200 Åcomplex using multi-Gaussian fitting and continuum estimation, with the inferred velocities validated against NIR spectrum at the similar phase. The resulting low Ni-to-Fe mass ratio, m_Ni/m_Fe≲ 0.06, is broadly consistent with a sub-M_Ch double-detonation progenitor system.
ER -