2016ApJ...833..128M

We present late-time observations of the site of the Type Ibn supernova (SN) 2006jc, acquired with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys. A faint blue source is recovered at the SN position, with brightness m_F435W=26.76±0.20, m_F555W=26.60±0.23 and m_F625W=26.32±0.19 mag, although there is no detection in a contemporaneous narrow-band Hαimage. The spectral energy distribution of the late-time source is well-fit by a stellar-like spectrum (log T_eff>3.7 and log L/L_☉>4), subject to only a small degree of reddening-consistent with that estimated for SN 2006jc itself at early-times. The lack of further outbursts after the explosion of SN 2006jc suggests that the precursor outburst originated from the progenitor. The possibility of the source being a compact host cluster is ruled out on the basis of the source's faintness; however, the possibility that the late-time source may be an unresolved light echo originating in a shell or sphere of pre-SN dust (within a radius 1 pc) is also discussed. Irrespective of the nature of the late-time source, these observations rule out a luminous blue variable as a companion to the progenitor of SN 2006jc.