The Remnant of Supernova 1993J in M81

A "movie" showing the development of the supernova 1993J remnant in M81 for the one-year period of September 1993 to September 1994. These images were taken in the radio light; the first four at 3.6 cm wavelength, the last one at 6 cm.

References:

• NRAO press release on this radio film of the SN 1993J remnant
• Expansion of SN 1993J
  Marcaide, J.M., Alberdi, A., Ros, E., Diamond, P., Shapiro, I.I., Guirado, J.C., Jones, D.L., Krichbaum, T.P., Mantovani, F., Preston, R.A., Rius, A., Schilizzi, R.T., Trigilio, C., Whitney, A.R., Witzel, A.
  Science, 270, 1475-1478 (1995)
  Abstract: A sequence of images from very long baseline interferometry shows that the young radio supernova SN 1993J is expanding with circular symmetry. However, the circularly symmetric images show emission asymmetries. A scenario in which freely expanding supernova ejecta shock mostly isotropic circumstellar material is strongly favored. The sequence of images constitutes the first ''movie'' of a radio supernova.

The supernova remnant at 6.3 cm, September 1994.

Reference:

• Discovery of Shell-like Radio-Structure in SN1993J
  Marcaide, J.M., Alberdi, A., Ros, E., Diamond, P.J., Schmidt, B., Shapiro, I.I., Baath, Davis, R.J., de Bruyn, G., Elósegui, P., Guirado, J.C., Jones, D.L., Krichbaum, T.P., Mantovani, F., Preston, R.A., Ratner, M.I., Rius, A., Rogers, A.E.E., Schilizzi, R.T., Trigilio, C., Whitney, A.R., Witzel, A., Zensus, J.A.
  Nature, 373, 44-45 (1995)
  Abstract: SUPERNOVA explosions are poorly understood, partly because of difficulties in modelling them theoretically(1), and partly because there have been no supernovae observed in our Galaxy since the invention of the telescope. But the recent discovery(2) of supernova SN1993J in the nearby galaxy M81 offers an opportunity to investigate the evolution of the remnant, and its interaction with the surrounding interstellar medium, at high resolution. Here we present radio observations of SN1993J, made using very-long-baseline interferometry, which show the development of a shell structure. This 8-month-old radio shell is the youngest ever discovered in a supernova. The data suggest that the supernova explosion and the expanding shell of the remnant have nearly spherical symmetry, with small deviations where some parts of the shell are brighter than others. If these deviations arise because of variations in the density of the shell, this may reconcile earlier reports of symmetric radio emission(3) with the observed optical asymmetry(4,5), as the density variations could easily cause the latter. We infer that the radio emission is generated at the interface(6-9), where the surrounding gas is shocked by the ejecta.

The images in these page were obtained with a global Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) array of radio telescopes in Europe and North America. Thanks to Eduardo Ros of the University of Valencia, Spain, for providing the references !

Images of the Supernova 1993J in M81

Last Modification: September 24, 2000