Supernova remnants (SNRs) arise from the interaction between the ejecta of a supernova (SN) explosion and the surrounding circumstellar and interstellar medium. Some SNRs, mostly nearby SNRs, can be studied in great detail. However, to understand SNRs as a whole, large samples of SNRs must be assembled and studied. Here, we describe the radio, optical, and X-ray techniques which have been used to identify and characterize almost 300 Galactic SNRs and more than 1200 extragalactic SNRs. We then discuss which types of SNRs are being found and which are not. We examine the degree to which the luminosity functions, surface-brightness distributions and multi-wavelength comparisons of the samples can be interpreted to determine the class properties of SNRs and describe efforts to establish the type of SN explosion associated with a SNR. We conclude that in order to better understand the class properties of SNRs, it is more important to study (and obtain additional data on) the SNRs in galaxies with extant samples at multiple wavelength bands than it is to obtain samples of SNRs in other galaxies
The investigation of extragalactic Supernova Remnants (SNRs) gives us the advantage of surmounting the challenges we are usually confronted with when observing Galactic SNRs, most notably Galactic extinction and distance uncertainties. At the same time, by obtaining larger samples of SNRs, we are allowed to cover a wider range of environments and Interstellar Medium (ISM) parameters than our Galaxy, providing us a more complete and representative picture of SNR populations. I will outline the recent progress on extragalactic surveys of SNR populations focusing on the optical, radio, and X-ray …
IceCube has measured a diffuse astrophysical flux of TeV-PeV neutrinos. The most plausible sources are unique high energy cosmic ray accelerators like hypernova remnants (HNRs) and remnants from gamma ray bursts in star-burst galaxies, which can produce primary cosmic rays with the required energies and abundance. In this case, however, ordinary supernova remnants (SNRs), which are far more abundant than HNRs, produce a comparable or larger neutrino flux in the ranges up to 100-150 TeV energies, implying a spectral break in the IceCube signal around these energies. The SNRs contribution in the…
We review the major advances in understanding the morphologies and kinematics of supernova remnants (SNRs). Simulations of SN explosions have improved dramatically over the last few years, and SNRs can be used to test models through comparison of predictions with SNRs' observed large-scale compositional and morphological properties as well as the three-dimensional kinematics of ejecta material. In particular, Cassiopeia A -- the youngest known core-collapse SNR in the Milky Way -- offers an up-close view of the complexity of these explosive events that cannot be resolved in distant, extragalac…
We present a model for the radio evolution of supernova remnants (SNRs) obtained by using three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic simulations, coupled with nonlinear kinetic theory of cosmic ray (CR) acceleration in SNRs. We model the radio evolution of SNRs on a global level, by performing simulations for wide range of the relevant physical parameters, such as the ambient density, the supernova (SN) explosion energy, the acceleration efficiency and the magnetic field amplification (MFA) efficiency. We attribute the observed spread of radio surface brightnesses for corresponding SNR diameters to t…
Thermal X-ray emission from young supernova remnants (SNRs) is usually dominated by the emission lines of the supernova (SN) ejecta, which are widely believed being crossed and thus heated by the inwards propagating reverse shock (RS). Previous works using imaging X-ray data have shown that the ejecta are heated by the RS by locating the peak emission region of the most recently ionized matter, which is found well separated towards the inside from the outermost boundary. Here we report the discovery of a systematic increase of the Sulfur (S) to Silicon (Si) K$α$ line flux ratio with radius in …
We present the discovery and timing of the young (age $\sim 28.6$ kyr) pulsar PSR J0837$-$2454. Based on its high latitude ($b = 9.8^{\circ}$) and dispersion measure (DM $ = 143$~pc~cm$^{-3}$), the pulsar appears to be at a $z$-height of $>$1 kpc above the Galactic plane, but near the edge of our Galaxy. This is many times the observed scale height of the canonical pulsar population, which suggests this pulsar may have been born far out of the plane. If accurate, the young age and high $z$-height imply that this is the first pulsar known to be born from a runaway O/B star. In follow-up imaging…
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…
Two new equations of motion for a supernova remnant (SNR) are derived in the framework of energy conservation for the thin-layer approximation. The first one is based on an inverse square law for the surrounding density and the second one on a non-cubic dependence of the swept mass. Under the assumption that the observed radio-flux scales as the flux of kinetic energy, two scaling laws are derived for the temporal evolution of the surface brightness of SNRs. The astrophysical applications cover two galactic samples of surface brightness and an extragalactic one.
The distribution and kinematics of the circumstellar medium (CSM) around a supernova remnant (SNR) tell us useful information about the explosion of its natal supernova (SN). Kepler's SNR, the remnant of SN1604, is widely regarded to be of Type Ia origin. Its shock is moving through a dense, asymmetric CSM. The presence of this dense gas suggests that its parent progenitor system consisted of a white dwarf and an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. In this paper, we analyze a new and long observation with the reflection grating spectrometers (RGS) on board the XMM-Newton satellite, spatially r…
We examine the question of the origin of the Galactic cosmic-rays (GCRs) in the light of the data available at the highest energy end of the spectrum. We argue that the data of the Pierre Auger Observatory and of the KASCADE-Grande experiment suggest that the transition between the Galactic and the extragalactic components takes place at the energy of the ankle in the all-particle cosmic-ray spectrum, and at an energy of the order of $10^{17}$ eV for protons. Such a high energy for Galactic protons appears difficult to reconcile with the general view that GCRs are accelerated by the standard d…
We review the observations of dust emission in supernova rem- nants (SNRs) and supernovae (SNe). Theoretical calculations suggest that SNe, particularly core-collapse, should make significant quantities of dust, perhaps as much as a solar mass. Observations of extragalactic SNe have yet to find anywhere near this amount, but this may be the result of observa- tional limitations. SN 1987A, in the process of transitioning from a SN to an SNR, does show signs of a significant amount of dust forming in its ejecta, but whether this dust will survive the passage of the reverse shock to be injected i…
Linearly polarized Balmer line emissions from supernova remnant shocks are studied taking into account the energy loss of the shock owing to the production of nonthermal particles. The polarization degree depends on the downstream temperature and the velocity difference between upstream and downstream regions. The former is derived once the line width of the broad component of the H$α$ emission is observed. Then, the observation of the polarization degree tells us the latter. At the same time, the estimated value of the velocity difference independently predicts adiabatic downstream temperatur…
Recently, FRB 190520B with the largest extragalactic dispersion measure (DM), was discovered by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). The DM excess over the intergalactic medium and Galactic contributions is estimated as $\sim 900$ pc cm$^{-3}$, which is nearly ten times higher than other fast radio bursts (FRBs) host galaxies. The DM decreases with the rate $\sim0.1$ pc cm$^{-3}$ per day. It is the second FRB associated with a compact persistent radio source (PRS). The rotation measure (RM) is found to be larger than $1.8 \times 10^{5} \mathrm{rad} ~\mathrm{m}^{-2}…
We propose a new extragalactic but non-cosmological explanation for fast radio bursts (FRBs) based on very young pulsars in supernova remnants. Within a few hundred years of a core-collapse supernova the ejecta is confined within $\sim$1 pc, providing a high enough column density of free electrons for the observed 375-1600 pc cm$^{-3}$ of dispersion measure (DM). By extrapolating a Crab-like pulsar to its infancy in an environment like that of SN 1987A, we hypothesize such an object could emit supergiant pulses sporadically which would be bright enough to be seen at a few hundred megaparsecs. …
We compare the morphology of the core collapse supernova remnant (CCSNR) W49B with the morphology of many planetary nebulae (PNe), and deduce the orientation of the jets that shaped this CCSNR and estimate their energy. We find morphological features that are shared by some PNe and by the CCSNR W49B. In PNe these features, such as a barrel-shaped main body, are thought to be shaped by jets. We use these morphological similarities to deduce that the jets that shaped SNR W49B were launched along the symmetry axis of the `barrel', and to speculate that this CCSNR has two opposite lobes (or ears),…
Observations of stellar remnants linked to Type Ia and Type Iax supernovae are necessary to fully understand their progenitors. Multiple progenitor scenarios predict a population of kicked donor remnants and partially-burnt primary remnants, both moving with relatively high velocity. But only a handful of examples consistent with these two predicted populations have been observed. Here we report the likely first known example of an unbound white dwarf that is consistent with being the fully-cooled primary remnant to a Type Iax supernova. The candidate, LP 93-21, is travelling with a galactocen…
We report the second extragalactic pulsar wind nebula (PWN) to be detected in the MeV-GeV band by the Fermi-LAT, located within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The only other known PWN to emit in the Fermi band outside of the Milky Way Galaxy is N 157B which lies to the west of the newly detected gamma-ray emission at an angular distance of 4 degrees. Faint, point-like gamma-ray emission is discovered at the location of the composite supernova remnant (SNR) B0453-685 with a ~ 4 sigma significance from energies 300 MeV - 2 TeV. We present the Fermi-LAT data analysis of the new gamma-ray sourc…
Typing the origin (i.e., Type Ia or core-collapse) of supernova remnants (SNRs) is crucial to determine the rates of supernova (SN) explosions in a galaxy, which is a key to understand its recent chemical evolution. However, evolved SNRs in the so-called Sedov phase are dominated by the swept-up interstellar medium (ISM), making it difficult to determine their ejecta composition and thus SN type. Here we present a systematic X-ray study of nine evolved SNRs in the Magellanic Clouds, DEM L238, DEM L249, 0534-69.9, 0548-70.4, B0532-71.0, B0532-67.5, 0103-72.6, 0049-73.6, and 0104-72.3, using arc…
Supernova remnants interacting with molecular clouds are ideal laboratories to study the acceleration of particles at shock waves and their transport and interactions in the surrounding interstellar medium. In this paper, we focus on the supernova remnant W28, which over the years has been observed in all energy domains from radio waves to very-high-energy gamma rays. The bright gamma-ray emission detected from molecular clouds located in its vicinity revealed the presence of accelerated GeV and TeV particles in the region. An enhanced ionization rate has also been measured by means of millime…
Gravitational-wave observations give a unique insight into the formation and evolution of binary black holes. We use gravitational-wave measurements to address the question of whether GW170729's source, which is (probably) the most massive binary and the system with the highest effective inspiral spin, could contain a black hole which is a previous merger remnant. Using the inferred mass and spin of the system, and the empirically determined population of binary black holes, we compute the evidence for the binary being second-generation compared with first-generation. We find moderate evidence…
We examined the latest data release from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey covering $345^\circ < l < 60^\circ$, $180^\circ < l < 240^\circ$, using these data and that of the Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer to follow up proposed candidate Supernova Remnants from other sources. Of the 101 candidates proposed in the region, we are able to definitively confirm ten as SNRs, tentatively confirm two as SNRs, and reclassify five as Hii regions. A further two are detectable in our images but difficult to classify; the remaining 82 are undetectable in the…
We present a new catalogue of radio sources in the face-on spiral galaxy M83. Radio observations taken in 2011, 2015, and 2017 with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) at 5.5 and 9 GHz have detected 270 radio sources. Although a small number of these sources are background extragalactic sources, most are either H II regions or supernova remnants (SNRs) within M83 itself. Three of the six historical supernovae are detected, as is the very young remnant that had been identified in a recent study, which is likely the result of a supernova that exploded in the last ~100 years but was miss…
A new analysis of the short-duration, hard-spectrum GRB 051103, a possible extragalactic SGR giant flare
GRB 051103被认为是一个候选的软伽马中继(SGR)河外巨磁星耀斑凭借其在天空中的接近M81/M82,以及它的时间历史,本地化和能谱。我们已经推导出一个完善的行星际网络本地化,这减少了超过两个因素的错误框的大小。我们检查其时间历史的证据,周期性的组件,这将是一个签名的SGR巨大的耀斑,并得出结论,这一组件既不是检测到,也不能检测到合理的假设。我们用改进的时间和能量分辨率分析了这一事件的时间分辨能谱,并得出结论,虽然谱是非常硬的,但它在后期的时间演化无法确定,这进一步复杂化了巨大的耀斑协会。我们还提出了新的光学观测,达到了R > 24.5的极限星等,比以前报道的要深4个星等。与M81爆发前和爆发后一个月的偶然观测相结合,这些观测对M81附近精确误差椭圆区域内的任何快速变化源都有很强的约束。我们没有找到任何令人信服的余辉候选人无论是从背景星系或来源在M81,虽然在改进的误差区域内,我们找到两个紫外线明亮的恒星形成区域,可能主机SGR。误差椭圆内的超新星遗迹(SNR)可以为SGR巨型耀斑协会提供进一步的支持,但我们无法确定误差椭圆内的任何SNR。这些数据仍然不允许对GRB 051103前身的性质进行严格的限制,并表明候选的河外SGR巨型耀斑将很难确认,尽管不是不可能。
Core-collapse supernovae are found in galaxies with ongoing star-formation. In a starburst galaxy hosting an active galactic nucleus with a relativistic jet, supernovae can take place inside the jet. The collision of the supernova ejecta with the jet flow is expected to lead to the formation of an interaction region, in which particles can be accelerated and produce high-energy emission. We study the non-thermal radiation produced by electrons accelerated as a result of a supernova explosion inside the jet of an active galactic nucleus within a star-forming galaxy. We first analyzed the dynami…
This paper presents a new study of the spectral index distribution of the supernova remnant (SNR) Puppis A. The nature of field compact sources is also investigated according to the measured spectral indices. This work is based on new observations of Puppis A and its surroundings performed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array in two configurations using the Compact Array Broad-band Backend centered at 1.75 GHz. We find that the global spectral index of Puppis A is -0.563 +/- 0.013. Local variations have been detected, however this global index represents well the bulk of the SNR. At the …
We used archival very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) data of active galactic nuclei (AGN) observed from 1.4 GHz to 86 GHz to measure the angular size of VLBI radio cores in 8959 AGNs. We analysed their sky distributions, frequency dependencies and created the most densely sampled and complete to date distribution map of large-scale scattering properties of the interstellar medium in our Galaxy. Significant angular broadening of the measured AGN core sizes is detected for the sources seen through the Galactic plane, and this effect is especially strong at low frequencies (e.g., at 2 GHz). …
We observed the supernova remnant (SNR) Puppis A in the 21 cm line with the Australia Telescope Compact Array with the aim of determining the systemic velocity and, hence, the corresponding kinematic distance. For the compact, background sources in the field, we obtain absorption spectra by applying two methods: (a) subtracting profiles on- and off-source towards continuum emission, and (b) filtering short spacial frequencies in the Fourier plane to remove large scale emission. One of the brightest features to the East of the shell of Puppis A was found to be a background source, probably extr…