Observational constraints on the progenitor metallicities of core-collapse supernovae

J. P. Anderson; M. Hamuy; P. A. James; R. A. Covarrubias; S. M. Habergham

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Observational constraints on the progenitor metallicities of core-collapse supernovae

J. P. Anderson, R. A. Covarrubias, P. A. James, M. Hamuy, S. M. Habergham

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Submitted 4 Jun 2010

abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review

The authors' main claim This argues that progenitor metallicity is not a dominant parameter in deciding supernovae type, with progenitor mass and/or binarity playing a much more significant role.

how it is stated · asserted 0.77 read the record →

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arXiv ID1006.0968 (version 1)

Pith IDZ2BFYJ7W, Pith's permanent record of this paper and its review

CitationJ. P. Anderson, M. Hamuy, P. A. James, R. A. Covarrubias, S. M. Habergham. "Observational constraints on the progenitor metallicities of core-collapse supernovae." arXiv:1006.0968 (2010). https://pith.science/paper/Z2BFYJ7W

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The paper's own sentences, arranged. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.

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Compiled by classifier-1.13-20260917 via OpenRouter, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 5,155 input tokens, $0.0002 reported.

What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.08 · states limitation 0.54 · human participants 0.02 · controlled comparison 0.35 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.99 · compares with prior results 0.96 · mentions code or data availability 0.02.

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arXiv listing abstract v1. Results and the main claim are underlined; show every role.

We present constraints on the progenitor metallicities of core-collapse supernovae. To date, nearly all metallicity constraints have been inferred from indirect methods such as metallicity gradients in host galaxies, luminosities of host galaxies, or derived global galaxy metallicities. Here, progenitor metallicities are derived from optical spectra taken at the sites of nearby supernovae, from the ratio of strong emission lines found in their host HII regions.We present results from the spectra of 74 host HII regions and discuss the implications that these have on the nature of core-collapse supernova progenitors. Overall, while we find that the mean metallicity of type Ibc environments is higher than that of type II events, this difference is smaller than observed in previous studies. There is only a 0.06 dex difference in the mean metallicity values, at a statistical significance of ~1.5 sigma, while using a KS-test we find that the two metallicity distributions are marginally consistent with being drawn from the same parent population (probability >10%). This argues that progenitor metallicity is not a dominant parameter in deciding supernovae type, with progenitor mass and/or binarity playing a much more significant role.

background contribution method result interpretation main claim

What the classifier reports for each sentence. The number is the probability it gave the label.
#	sentence	role	the authors' own work	states the main conclusion	strength
s0	We present constraints on the progenitor metallicities of core-collapse supernovae.	contribution 1.00	0.92	0.05	asserted 0.95
s1	To date, nearly all metallicity constraints have been inferred from indirect methods such as metallicity gradients in host galaxies, luminosities of host galaxies, or derived global galaxy metallicities.	background 0.89	0.04	0.02	asserted 1.00
s2	Here, progenitor metallicities are derived from optical spectra taken at the sites of nearby supernovae, from the ratio of strong emission lines found in their host HII regions.We present results from the spectra of 74 host HII regions and discuss the implications that these have on the nature of core-collapse supernova progenitors.	method 0.85	0.95	0.04	asserted 0.99
s3	Overall, while we find that the mean metallicity of type Ibc environments is higher than that of type II events, this difference is smaller than observed in previous studies.	result 1.00	0.96	0.13	asserted 1.00
s4	There is only a 0.06 dex difference in the mean metallicity values, at a statistical significance of ~1.5 sigma, while using a KS-test we find that the two metallicity distributions are marginally consistent with being drawn from the same parent population (probability >10%).	result 1.00	0.95	0.11	asserted 0.84
s5	This argues that progenitor metallicity is not a dominant parameter in deciding supernovae type, with progenitor mass and/or binarity playing a much more significant role.	interpretation 1.00	0.48	0.82	asserted 0.77

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: empirical study 1.00 · evidence from observation or experiment 0.96.

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Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. Every number in the measurements table is the authors', checked by code. Record as JSON

The paper

Original abstract

We present constraints on the progenitor metallicities of core-collapse supernovae. To date, nearly all metallicity constraints have been inferred from indirect methods such as metallicity gradients in host galaxies, luminosities of host galaxies, or derived global galaxy metallicities. Here, progenitor metallicities are derived from optical spectra taken at the sites of nearby supernovae, from the ratio of strong emission lines found in their host HII regions.We present results from the spectra of 74 host HII regions and discuss the implications that these have on the nature of core-collapse supernova progenitors. Overall, while we find that the mean metallicity of type Ibc environments is higher than that of type II events, this difference is smaller than observed in previous studies. There is only a 0.06 dex difference in the mean metallicity values, at a statistical significance of ~1.5 sigma, while using a KS-test we find that the two metallicity distributions are marginally consistent with being drawn from the same parent population (probability >10%). This argues that progenitor metallicity is not a dominant parameter in deciding supernovae type, with progenitor mass and/or binarity playing a much more significant role.

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3 arXiv papers cite this in 4 sentences

Each citing sentence is taken from the citing paper's LaTeX source and typed by Pith's classifier. A label appears at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), a contest at 0.7 or more; the quoted words are the citing authors'. How each label was checked · JSON

Papers citing it · 2 sentences without a confident label

Uses its method or tool 1 paper

Based on the method described in [ref] , we estimated the metallicity at the SN site to be 8.7, and found it to be consistent with the average value for Type II SNe [ref] .

SN 2023gfo: A Peculiar Type IIP Supernova with High Luminosity and Normal Plateau Duration · Optical Spectroscopy · 0.91

Cites it as support 1 paper

There is indeed observational support for this, as metal-driven mass loss likely leads to the formation of more stripped-envelope SNe Ibc, which are found in more metal-rich hosts than SNe II [ref] .

The Environments of Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients: Evidence for a Compact Object and Wolf-Rayet Star Merger Origin · Failed SNe? · 0.97

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