Mass-loss histories of Type IIn supernova progenitors within decades before their explosion

Abstract

We present results of a systematic study of the mass-loss properties of Type IIn supernova progenitors within decades before their explosion. We apply an analytic light curve model to 11 Type IIn supernova bolometric light curves to derive the circumstellar medium properties. We reconstruct the mass-loss histories based on the estimated circumstellar medium properties. The estimated mass-loss rates are mostly higher than 1e-3 Msun/yr and they are consistent with those obtained by other methods. The mass-loss rates are often found to be constantly high within decades before their explosion. This indicates that there exists some mechanism to sustain the high mass-loss rates of Type IIn supernova progenitors for at least decades before their explosion. Thus, the shorter eruptive mass loss events observed in some Type IIn supernova progenitors are not always responsible for creating their dense circumstellar media. In addition, we find that Type IIn supernova progenitors may tend to increase their mass-loss rates as they approach to the time of their explosion. We also show a detailed comparison between our analytic prediction and numerical results.