Absorption lines which appear in the spectrum of SN 1987A are identified as Ba II transitions which are also observed to be strong in classical barium stars. The presence of these lines and similar Sr II transitions argues for s-process element enhancements in the supernova progenitor. The same lines may also be present in some type I supernovae, suggesting the possibility that Ba II stars could be progenitors for some SN I outbursts.
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R. E. Williams (1987) studied this question.