The Environmental Dependence of Mid-infrared Luminous Dusty Supernovae

Using Spitzer and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer images, we have discovered 42 mid-infrared (mid-IR) luminous dusty supernovae (SNe) with local integral field spectroscopy data. The observed mid-IR emission indicates the presence of newly formed dust or preexisting dust heated by radiation from SN or circumstellar medium (CSM) interactions. We carry out a systematic analysis of the SN host environments and their dust properties, to understand the dust-veiled exploding stars and whether such an intense dust production process is associated with their local environments. We find that dusty SNe prefer the locations with higher EW(H α ), lower metallicity, and heavier host extinctions compared to typical SN types, and they show the same increasing sequence in the values of EW(H α ) and oxygen abundance, from hydrogen-rich to type IIn to hydrogen-poor dusty SNe. These differences in the environmental properties of different dusty SN types indicate the diversity of their progenitors. We also find that one marginal correlation is a negative correlation between the SN dust mass and star formation rate. This means that SNe would be more mid-IR-luminous and more dust-rich in regions with lower star formation rates. However, the SN dust mass shows no correlation with the metallicity and the host extinction, which were thought to be key factors affecting the mass-loss history of progenitors and the CSM environment of SNe. Therefore, the dust formation process in SNe might be insensitive to metallicity and the dust conditions of their host environments.