Interaction of SN Ib 2004dk with a Previously Expelled Envelope

The interaction between the expanding supernova (SN) ejecta with the circumstellar material (CSM) that was expelled from the progenitor prior to explosion is a long-sought phenomenon, yet observational evidence is scarce. Here we confirm a new example: SN 2004dk, originally a hydrogen-poor, helium-rich Type Ib SN that reappeared as a strong {{H}}α -emitting point source on narrowband {{H}}α images. We present follow-up optical spectroscopy that reveals the presence of a broad {{H}}α component with full width at half maximum of ∼ 290 {km} {{{s}}}^-1 in addition to the narrow {{H}}α +[N II] emission features from the host galaxy. Such a broad component is a clear sign of an ejecta-CSM interaction. We also present observations with the XMM-Newton Observatory, the Swift satellite, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory that span 10 days to 15 years after discovery. The detection of strong radio, X-ray, and {{H}}α emission years after explosion allows various constraints to be put on pre-SN mass-loss processes. We present a wind-bubble model in which the CSM is “pre-prepared” by a fast wind interacting with a slow wind. Much of the outer density profile into which the SN explodes corresponds to no steady-state mass-loss process. We estimate that the shell of compressed slow wind material was ejected ∼1400 yr prior to explosion, perhaps during carbon burning, and that the SN shock had swept up about 0.04 {M}_⊙ of material. The region emitting the {{H}}α has a density of order {10}^-20 {{g}} {cm}}^-3.