SN 2023ixf in Messier 101: A Variable Red Supergiant as the Progenitor Candidate to a Type II Supernova

Charles D. Kilpatrick^*, Ryan J. Foley, Wynn V. Jacobson-Galán, Anthony L. Piro, Stephen J. Smartt, Maria R. Drout, Alexander Gagliano, Christa Gall, Jens Hjorth, David O. Jones, Kaisey S. Mandel, Raffaella Margutti, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, Conor L. Ransome, V. Ashley Villar, David A. Coulter, Hua Gao, David Jacob Matthews, Kirsty Taggart, Yossef Zenati