We present an extensive optical and near-infrared photometric and spectroscopic campaign of the type IIP supernova SN 2012aw .
The dataset densely covers the evolution of SN 2012aw shortly after the explosion up to the end of the photospheric phase , with two additional photometric observations collected during the nebular phase , to fit the radioactive tail and estimate the ^ { 56 } Ni mass .
Also included in our analysis is the already published Swift UV data , therefore providing a complete view of the ultraviolet-optical-infrared evolution of the photospheric phase .
On the basis of our dataset , we estimate all the relevant physical parameters of SN 2012aw with our radiation-hydrodynamics code : envelope mass M _ { env } \sim 20 M _ { \odot } , progenitor radius R \sim 3 \times 10 ^ { 13 } cm ( \sim 430 R _ { \odot } ) , explosion energy E \sim 1.5 foe , and initial ^ { 56 } Ni mass \sim 0.06 M _ { \odot } .
These mass and radius values are reasonably well supported by independent evolutionary models of the progenitor , and may suggest a progenitor mass higher than the observational limit of 16.5 \pm 1.5 M _ { \odot } of the Type IIP events .