We discuss the emission and transport of polarized radio-band synchrotron radiation near the forward shocks of young shell-type supernova remnants, for which X-ray data indicate a strong amplification of turbulent magnetic field. Modeling the magnetic turbulence through the superposition of waves, we calculate the degree of polarization and the magnetic polarization direction which is at $90^\circ$ to the conventional electric polarization direction. We find that isotropic strong turbulence will produce weakly polarized radio emission even in the absence of internal Faraday rotation. If anisotropy is imposed on the magnetic-field structure, the degree of polarization can be significantly increased, provided internal Faraday rotation is inefficient. Both for shock compression and a mixture with a homogeneous field, the increase in polarization degree goes along with a fairly precise alignment of the magnetic-polarization angle with the direction of the dominant magnetic-field component, implying tangential magnetic polarization at the rims in the case of shock compression. We compare our model with high-resolution radio polarimetry data of Tycho's remnant. Using the absence of internal Faraday rotation we find a soft limit for the amplitude of magnetic turbulence, $δB \lesssim 200\ {\rm μG}$. The data are compatible with a turbulent magnetic field superimposed on a radial large-scale field of similar amplitude, $δB\simeq B_0$. An alternative viable scenario involves anisotropic turbulence with stronger amplitudes in the radial direction, as was observed in recent MHD simulations of shocks propagating through a medium with significant density fluctuations.
Relations between radio surface brightness ($Σ$) and diameter ($D$) of supernova remnants (SNRs) are important in astronomy. In this paper, following the work Duric \& Seaquist (1986) at adiabatic phase, we carefully investigate shell-type supernova remnants at radiative phase, and obtain theoretical $Σ$-$D$ relation at radiative phase of shell-type supernova remnants at 1 GHz. By using these theoretical $Σ$-$D$ relations at adiabatic phase and radiative phase, we also roughly determine phases of some supernova remnant from observation data.
Optical imaging polarimetry was conducted on the hydrogen poor superluminous supernova 2020znr during 3 phases after maximum light (approximately +34 days, +288 days and +289 days). After instrumental and interstellar polarization correction, all measurements are consistent with null-polarization detection. Modelling the light curve with a magnetar spin-down model shows that SN 2020znr has similar magnetar and ejecta parameters to other SLSNe. A comparison of the best-fit values discussed in the literature on SN 2017egm and SN 2015bn, two hydrogen poor SLSNe showing an increase of polarization…
NGC6946 is a high star formation rate face-on spiral galaxy that has hosted ten supernovae since 1917. Not surprisingly, a large number of supernova remnants and candidates have been identified either as optical nebulae with high [S II]:H$α$ line ratios (147) or as compact non-thermal radio sources (35). However, there are only seven overlaps between these two samples. Here, we apply [Fe II] 1.644 $μ$m emission as a new diagnostic to search for supernova remnants in an attempt to resolve this discrepancy. [Fe II] is expected to be relatively strong in the radiative shocks of supernova remnants…
The new generation of X-ray polarisation detectors, gas pixel detectors, which will be employed by the future space missions IXPE and eXTP, allows for spatially resolved X-ray polarisation studies. This will be of particular interest for X-ray synchrotron emission from extended sources like young supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae. Here we report on employing a polarisation statistic that can be used to makes maps in the Stokes I, Q, and U parameters, a method that we expand by correcting for the energy-dependent instrumental modulation factor, using optimal weighting of the signal. In…
A revised catalogue of Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) is presented, along with some simple statistics of their properties. Six new SNRs have been added to the catalogue since the previous published version from 2014, and six entries have been removed, as they have been identified as HII regions, leaving the number of entries in the catalogue at 294. Some simple statistics of the remnants in the catalogue, and the selection effects that apply, are discussed, along with some recently proposed Galactic SNR candidates.
Polarimetry of IGR J1401-4306, a long period (12.7 hours), eclipsing intermediate polar and remnant of Nova Scorpii 1437 A.D., reveals periodic variations of optical circular polarization, confirming the system as the longest period eclipsing intermediate polar known. This makes it an interesting system from an evolutionary perspective. The circular polarization is interpreted as optical cyclotron emission from an accreting magnetic white dwarf primary. Based on the polarimetry, we propose that it is a disc-fed intermediate polar. The detection of predominantly negative circular polarization i…
Here is considered the full evolution of a spherical supernova remnant. We start by calculating the early time ejecta dominated stage and continue through the different phases of interaction with the circumstellar medium, and end with the dissipation and merger phase. The physical connection between the phases reveals new results. One is that the blast wave radius during the adiabatic phase is significantly smaller than it would be, if one does notaccount for the blast wave interaction with the ejecta.
Narrow passband optical images of the large Galactic supernova remnant G179.0+2.6 reveal a faint but nearly complete emission shell dominated by strong [O III] 4959,5007 A line emission. The remnant's optical emission, which consists of both diffuse and filamentary features, is brightest along its southern and northeastern limbs. Deep H-alpha images detect little coincidence emission indicating an unusually high [O III]/H-alpha emission ratio for such a large and apparently old remnant. Low-dispersion optical spectra of several regions confirm large [O III]/H-alpha line ratios with typical val…
We present initial results of an ongoing study of the supernova remnants (SNRs) and candidates in the Magellanic Clouds. Some 108 objects in both Clouds are considered to be either an SNR or a reliable candidate. This represents the most complete sample of known SNRs in any galaxy. therefore, this study allows us to study SNR population properties such as the size and spectral index distribution. Here, we also show 12 known Large Magellanic Cloud SNRs from type Ia SN explosions and briefly comment on their importance.
We present imaging polarimetry of the superluminous supernova SN 2015bn, obtained over nine epochs between $-$20 and $+$46 days with the Nordic Optical Telescope. This was a nearby, slowly-evolving Type I superluminous supernova that has been studied extensively and for which two epochs of spectropolarimetry are also available. Based on field stars, we determine the interstellar polarisation in the Galaxy to be negligible. The polarisation of SN 2015bn shows a statistically significant increase during the last epochs, confirming previous findings. Our well-sampled imaging polarimetry series al…
The debate on the nature of the gamma-ray emission from young supernova remnants is still open. Ascribing such emission to hadronic rather than leptonic processes would provide an evidence for the acceleration of protons and nuclei, and this fact would fit with the very popular (but not proven) paradigm that supernova remnants are the sources of Galactic cosmic rays. Here, we discuss this issue with a particular focus on the best studied gamma-ray-bright supernova remnant: RX~J1713.7-3946.
We examine the evolution and emission of the supernova remnant (SNR) CTB109 using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations. The SNR evolves in a medium divided by a plane interface into two media with different densities and pressure equilibrium. Our results reveal that a remnant with the characteristics of CTB109 is formed provided the supernova (SN) explosion takes place in the less dense medium and also if the interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) is almost uniform. Finally, we conclude that the quasiparallel mechanism can explain the brightness synchrotron emission and the position …
Recent progress in numerical simulations of thermonuclear supernova explosions brings up a unique opportunity in studying the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae. Coupling state-of-the-art explosion models with detailed hydrodynamical simulations of the supernova remnant evolution and the most up-to-date atomic data for X-ray emission calculations makes it possible to create realistic synthetic X-ray spectra for the supernova remnant phase. Comparing such spectra with high quality observations of supernova remnants could allow to constrain the explosion mechanism and the progenitor of the supern…
Core-collapse supernova remnants are the gaseous nebulae of galactic interstellar media (ISM) formed after the explosive death of massive stars. Their morphology and emission properties depend both on the surrounding circumstellar structure shaped by the stellar wind-ISM interaction of the progenitor star and on the local conditions of the ambient medium. In the warm phase of the Galactic plane (n = 1/cm3, T = 8000 K), an organised magnetic field of strength 7 microG has profound consequences on the morphology of the wind bubble of massive stars at rest. In this paper we show through 2.5D magn…
Galactic cosmic rays are believed to be accelerated at supernova remnant shocks. Gamma-ray observations of both supernova remnants and associated molecular clouds have been used in several occasions to test (so far quite successfully) this popular hypothesis. Despite that, a conclusive solution to the problem of cosmic ray origin is still missing, and further observational and theoretical efforts are needed. In this paper, the current status of these investigations is briefly reviewed.
Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are at least $\sim$5 times more luminous than common supernovae (SNe). Especially hydrogen-poor SLSN-I are difficult to explain with conventional powering mechanisms. One possible scenario that might explain such luminosities is that SLSNe-I are powered by an internal engine, such as a magnetar or an accreting black hole. Strong magnetic fields or collimated jets can circularly polarize light. In this work, we measured circular polarization of two SLSNe-I with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) mounted at the ESO's Very Large Telescope (V…
Many aspects of the progenitor systems, environments, and explosion dynamics of the various subtypes of supernovae are difficult to investigate at extragalactic distances where they are observed as unresolved sources. Alternatively, young supernova remnants in our own galaxy and in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds offer opportunities to resolve, measure, and track expanding stellar ejecta in fine detail, but the handful that are known exhibit widely different properties that reflect the diversity of their parent explosions and local circumstellar and interstellar environments. A way of co…
The emission of supernova remnants reflects the properties of both the progenitor supernovae and the surrounding environment. The complex morphology of the remnants, however, hampers the disentanglement of the two contributions. Here we aim at identifying the imprint of SN 1987A on the X-ray emission of its remnant and at constraining the structure of the environment surrounding the supernova. We performed high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations describing SN 1987A soon after the core-collapse and the following three-dimensional expansion of its remnant between days 1 and 15000 after the supe…
A signification fraction of Galactic massive stars (> 8Mo) are ejected from their parent cluster and supersonically sail away through the interstellar medium (ISM). The winds of these fast-moving stars blow asymmetric bubbles thus creating a circumstellar environment in which stars eventually die with a supernova explosion. The morphology of the resulting remnant is largely governed by the circumstellar medium of the defunct progenitor star. In this paper, we present 2D magneto-hydrodynamical simulations investigating the effect of the ISM magnetic field on the shape of the supernova remnants …
Supernova remnants are often presented as the most probable sources of Galactic cosmic rays. This idea is supported by the accumulation of evidence that particle acceleration is happening at supernova remnant shocks. Observations in the TeV range have especially contributed to increase the understanding of the mechanisms, but many aspects of the particle acceleration at supernova remnant shocks are still debated. The Cherenkov telescope array is expected to lead to the detection of many new supernova remnants in the TeV and multi-TeV range. In addition to the individual study of each, the stud…
Supernova remnants are believed to be the sources of galactic cosmic rays. Within this framework, diffusive shock acceleration must operate in these objects and accelerate protons all the way up to PeV energies. To do so, significant amplification of the magnetic field at the shock is required. The goal of this paper is to investigate the capability of supernova remnants to accelerate PeV protons. We present analytic estimates of the maximum energy of accelerated protons under various assumptions about the field amplification at supernova remnant shocks. We show that acceleration up to PeV ene…
The gamma-ray observations of molecular clouds associated with supernova remnants are considered one of the most promising ways to search for a solution of the problem of cosmic ray origin. Here we briefly review the status of the field, with particular emphasis on the theoretical and phenomenological aspects of the problem.
Recent high energy gamma-ray observations of both single supernova remnants and superbubbles, together with observations of supernovae, star formation regions, and local cosmic ray composition, now provide an integrated framework tying together the sources, injection, acceleration and propagation of the cosmic rays, so that it is possible to determine their relative contributions to cosmic ray acceleration for all but the very highest energies.
A revised catalogue of 294 Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) is presented, along with some simple statistics. This catalogue has twenty more entries than did the previous version (from 2009), as 21 new remnants have been added, and one object has been removed as it has been identified as an HII region.
Energy released when the core of a high-mass star collapses into a black hole often powers an explosion that creates a supernova remnant. Black holes have limited windows of observability, and consequently are rarely identified in association with supernova remnants. Analysing multi-messenger data, we show that MAXI J1535-571 is the black hole produced in the stellar explosion that gave rise to the supernova remnant G323.7-1.0, making it the first case of an association between a black hole low-mass X-ray binary and a supernova remnant. Given this connection, we can infer from our modelling th…
Supernovae shape the interstellar medium, chemically enrich their host galaxies, and generate powerful interstellar shocks that drive future generations of star formation. The shock produced by a supernova event acts as a type of time machine, probing the mass loss history of the progenitor system back to ages of $\sim$ 10 000 years before the explosion, whereas supernova remnants probe a much earlier stage of stellar evolution, interacting with material expelled during the progenitor's much earlier evolution. In this chapter we will review how observations of supernova remnants allow us to in…
We report the discovery of a new high mass X-ray binary pulsar, XMMU J050722.1-684758, possibly associated with the supernova remnant MCSNR J0507-6847 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using XMM-Newton X-ray observations. Pulsations with a periodicity of 570 s are discovered from the Be X-ray binary XMMU J050722.1-684758 confirming its nature as a HMXB pulsar. The HMXB is located near the geometric centre of the supernova remnant MCSNR J0507-6847 (0.9 arcmin from the centre) which supports the XRB-SNR association. The estimated age of the supernova remnant is 43-63 kyr which points to a middle ag…
The supernova remnant hypothesis for the origin of Galactic cosmic rays has passed several tests, but the firm identification of a supernova remnant pevatron, considered to be a decisive step to prove the hypothesis, is still missing. While a lot of hope has been placed in next-generation instruments operating in the multi-TeV range, it is possible that current gamma-ray instruments, operating in the TeV range, could pinpoint these objects or, most likely, identify a number of promising targets for instruments of next generation. Starting from the assumption that supernova remnants are indeed …
We report Swift/BAT survey observations of the Tycho's supernova remnant, performed over a period of 104 months since the mission's launch. The remnant is detected with high significance (>10 sigma) below 50 keV. We detect significant hard X-ray emission in the 60-85 keV band, above the continuum level predicted by a simple synchrotron model. The location of the observed excess is consistent with line emission from radioactive Titanium-44, so far reported only for Type II supernova explosions. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of the galactic supernova rate, and nucle…
Particle acceleration to suprathermal energies in strong astrophysical shock waves is a widespread phenomenon, generally explained by diffusive shock acceleration. Such shocks can also amplify upstream magnetic field considerably beyond simple compression. The complex plasma physics processes involved are often parameterized by assuming that shocks put some fraction $ε_e$ of their energy into fast particles, and another fraction $ε_B$ into magnetic field. Modelers of shocks in supernovae, supernova remnants, and gamma-ray bursters, among other locations, often assume typical values for these f…
Supernova remnant (SNR) G309.2-0.6 has a peculiar radio morphology with two bright ears to the southwest and northeast, although the main shell outside the ears is roughly circular. Based on an earlier proposal that the supernova ejecta has a jet component with extra energy, the dynamical evolution of the remnant is solved using 3D hydrodynamical (HD) simulation to investigate the formation of the periphery of the remnant. Assuming the ejecta with a kinetic energy of $10^{51}$\,erg and a mass of $3~\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ evolved in a uniform ambient medium for a time of $\sim 4000$\,yr and the je…
There is now substantial evidence that the progenitors of some core-collapse supernovae undergo enhanced or extreme mass loss prior to explosion. The imprint of this mass loss is observed in the spectra and dynamics of the expanding blastwave on timescales of days to years after core-collapse, and the effects on the spectral and dynamical evolution may linger long after the supernova has evolved into the remnant stage. In this paper, we present for the first time, largely self-consistent end-to-end simulations for the evolution of a massive star from the pre-main sequence, up to and through co…
It is widely believe that galactic cosmic rays are originated in supernova remnants (SNRs) where they are accelerated by diffusive shock acceleration process at supernova blast waves driven by expanding SNRs. In recent theoretical developments of the diffusive shock acceleration theory in SNRs, protons are expected to accelerate in SNRs at least up to the knee energy. If SNRs are true generator of cosmic rays, they should accelerate not only protons but also heavier nuclei with right proportion and the maximum energy of heavier nuclei should be atomic mass (Z) times that of protons. In this wo…
Understanding the evolution of a supernova remnant shell in time is fundamental. Such understanding is critical to build reliable models of the dynamics of the supernova remnant shell interaction with any pulsar wind nebula it might contain. Here, we perform a large study of the parameter space for the one-dimensional spherically symmetric evolution of a supernova remnant, accompanying it by analytical analysis. Assuming, as is usual, an ejecta density profile with a power-law core and an envelope, and a uniform ambient medium, we provide a set of highly-accurate approximations for the evoluti…
Galactic cosmic rays are believed to be accelerated at supernova remnant shocks. Though very popular and robust, this conjecture still needs a conclusive proof. The strongest support to this idea is probably the fact that supernova remnants are observed in gamma-rays, which are indeed expected as the result of the hadronic interactions between the cosmic rays accelerated at the shock and the ambient gas. However, also leptonic processes can, in most cases, explain the observed gamma-ray emission. This implies that the detections in gamma rays do not necessarily mean that supernova remnants acc…
Although Type Ia supernovae have been heavily scrutinized due to their use in making cosmological distance estimates, we are still unable to definitively identify the progenitors for the entire population. While answers have been presented for certain specific systems, a complete solution remains elusive. We present observations of two supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud, SNR 0505-67.9 and SNR 0509-68.7, for which we have identified the center of the remnant and the 99.73% containment central region in which any companion star left over after the supernova must be located. …
