A Faint Progenitor System for the Faint Supernova 2024vjm

A Faint Progenitor System for the Faint Supernova 2024vjm | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article A Faint Progenitor System for the Faint Supernova 2024vjm Erez Zimmerman, Avishay Gal-Yam, Paul Groot, Eran Ofek, Jan van Roestel, and 65 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8807255/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are well known for their role as standardizable cosmological candles. Their uniformity is credited to their single origin as thermonuclear explosions of White dwarf (WD) stars. Nevertheless, some SNe Ia break this regularity. Prominently, the Iax subclass are less energetic and remarkably diverse, raising questions about their progenitor systems. While no progenitor system of a normal SN Ia has ever been detected, a luminous blue star was identified in pre-explosion images of the site of the bright SN Iax SN 2012Z, suggested to be a helium giant companion star acting as a mass donor to a WD SN progenitor. This is in line with models of weak mass accretion of a WD from a binary companion, producing an explosion that does not fully disrupt the star. However, these models fail to explain the properties of the faintest Type Iax explosions, suggesting either they originate from other WD binary systems, or even from massive progenitor stars. Here, we present the faint SN Iax SN 2024vjm - possibly the faintest supernova observed to date. Using a deep pre-explosion image taken by the recently launched Euclid space mission, we show that its progenitor system must be fainter than the helium giant SN Iax progenitor candidate of SN 2012Z, as well as that of the luminous red companion or remnant of the faint SN 2008ha, and may require a subdwarf helium star as a mass donor. The deep image also provides strong arguments against a massive star origin for this faint supernova. Our observations argue that SN 2024vjm is a WD explosion, but we find that remarkably faint SNe Iax fade more slowly than bright ones, i.e., they evolve in an opposite manner from the famous Phillips relation that makes regular SNe Ia cosmological candles. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Time-domain astronomy Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Transient astrophysical phenomena Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/High-energy astrophysics Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Stars Supernovae Type Iax supernovae White dwarf stars Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8807255","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":593952526,"identity":"23cb0288-ce89-42de-adb9-e5a26c27e2a9","order_by":0,"name":"Erez 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12:52:46","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8807255/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8807255/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105732719,"identity":"7bad9fe5-0a52-4bc9-b125-43c32c3c6745","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-30 11:36:33","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":11426461,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"SN2024vjmnature.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8807255/v1_covered_18c8a22c-96ab-4042-897e-bf6f580cda2e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"A Faint Progenitor System for the Faint Supernova 2024vjm","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Supernovae, Type Iax supernovae, White dwarf stars","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8807255/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8807255/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are well known for their role as standardizable cosmological candles. Their uniformity is credited to their single origin as thermonuclear explosions of White dwarf (WD) stars. Nevertheless, some SNe Ia break this regularity. Prominently, the Iax subclass are less energetic and remarkably diverse, raising questions about their progenitor systems. While no progenitor system of a normal SN Ia has ever been detected, a luminous blue star was identified in pre-explosion images of the site of the bright SN Iax SN 2012Z, suggested to be a helium giant companion star acting as a mass donor to a WD SN progenitor. This is in line with models of weak mass accretion of a WD from a binary companion, producing an explosion that does not fully disrupt the star. However, these models fail to explain the properties of the faintest Type Iax explosions, suggesting either they originate from other WD binary systems, or even from massive progenitor stars. Here, we present the faint SN Iax SN 2024vjm - possibly the faintest supernova observed to date. Using a deep pre-explosion image taken by the recently launched Euclid space mission, we show that its progenitor system must be fainter than the helium giant SN Iax progenitor candidate of SN 2012Z, as well as that of the luminous red companion or remnant of the faint SN 2008ha, and may require a subdwarf helium star as a mass donor. The deep image also provides strong arguments against a massive star origin for this faint supernova. Our observations argue that SN 2024vjm is a WD explosion, but we find that remarkably faint SNe Iax fade more slowly than bright ones, i.e., they evolve in an opposite manner from the famous Phillips relation that makes regular SNe Ia cosmological candles.","manuscriptTitle":"A Faint Progenitor System for the Faint Supernova 2024vjm","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-30 11:20:05","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8807255/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-astronomy","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"natastron","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Astronomy](http://www.nature.com/natastron/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Astronomy","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Research","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"a275b8e8-a1b8-4a46-be46-64c917c02a8f","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 30th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":63205610,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Time-domain astronomy"},{"id":63205611,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Transient astrophysical phenomena"},{"id":63205612,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/High-energy astrophysics"},{"id":63205613,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Stars"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-30T11:20:05+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-30 11:20:05","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8807255","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8807255","identity":"rs-8807255","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}