Core-collapse supernovae ( SNe ) are the spectacular finale to massive stellar evolution .
In this Letter , we identify a progenitor for the nearby core-collapse SN 2012aw in both ground based near-infrared , and space based optical pre-explosion imaging .
The SN itself appears to be a normal Type II Plateau event , reaching a bolometric luminosity of 10 ^ { 42 } erg s ^ { -1 } and photospheric velocities of \sim 11,000 km s ^ { -1 } Â from the position of the H \beta P-Cygni minimum in the early SN spectra .
We use an adaptive optics image to show that the SN is coincident to within 27 mas with a faint , red source in pre-explosion HST+WFPC2 , VLT+ISAAC and NTT+SOFI images .
The source has magnitudes F 555 W =26.70 \pm 0.06 , F 814 W =23.39 \pm 0.02 , J =21.1 \pm 0.2 , K =19.1 \pm 0.4 , which when compared to a grid of stellar models best matches a red supergiant .
Interestingly , the spectral energy distribution of the progenitor also implies an extinction of A _ { V } > 1.2 mag , whereas the SN itself does not appear to be significantly extinguished .
We interpret this as evidence for the destruction of dust in the SN explosion .
The progenitor candidate has a luminosity between 5.0 and 5.6 log L/L _ { \odot } , corresponding to a ZAMS mass between 14 and 26 M _ { \odot } Â ( depending on A _ { V } ) , which would make this one of the most massive progenitors found for a core-collapse SN to date .