Abstract
SUPERNOVA explosions are poorly understood, partly because of difficulties in modelling them theoretically1, and partly because there have been no supernovae observed in our Galaxy since the invention of the telescope. But the recent discovery2 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 emission3 with the observed optical asymmetry4,5, as the density variations could easily cause the latter. We infer that the radio emission is generated at the interface6–9, where the surrounding gas is shocked by the ejecta.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Canal, R., Isern, J. & Labay, J. A. Rev. Astr. Astrophys. 28, 183–214 (1990).
Ripero, J. & García, F. IAU Circ. No. 5731 (1993).
Bartel, N. et al. Nature 368, 610–613 (1994).
Trammell, S. R., Hines, D. C. & Wheeler, J. C. Astrophys. J. 414, L21–L24 (1993).
Spyromilio, J. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 266, L61–L64 (1994).
Chevalier, R. Astrophys. J. 259, 302–310 (1982).
Chevalier, R. Astrophys. J. 259, L85–L89 (1982).
Chevalier, R. Astrophys. J. 285, L63–L66 (1984).
Chevalier, R. in Supernovae (ed. Petschek, A. G.) 90–110 (Springer, New York, 1990).
Marcaide, J. M. et al. Astrophys. J. 424, L25–L27 (1994).
Pearson, T. J. Bull. Am. Astr. Soc. 23, 991–992 (1991).
Shklovskii, I. S. Pis'ma Astr. Zh. 7, 479–481 (1981); translated in Soviet Astr. Lett. 7, 263–264 (1981).
Pacini, F. & Salvati, M. Astrophys. J. 245, L107–L108 (1981).
Bandiera, R., Pacini, F. & Salvati, M. Astrophys. J. 285, 134–140 (1984).
Weiler, K. W., Sramek, R. A. & Panagia, N. Astrophys. J. 301, 790–812 (1986).
Weiler, K. W., Panagia, N. & Sramek, R. A. Astrophys. J. 364, 611–625 (1990).
Nomoto, K. et al. Nature 364, 507–509 (1993).
Podsiadlowski, Ph., Hsu, J. J. L., Joss, P. C. & Ross, R. R. Nature 364, 509–511 (1993).
Staveley-Smith, L. et al. Nature 366, 136–138 (1993).
Van Dyk, S. D., Weiler, K. W., Sramek, R. A., Rupen, M. P. & Panagia, N. Astrophys. J. Lett. 432, L115–L118 (1994).
Bartel, N. et al. Nature 318, 25–30 (1985).
Schmidt, B. P. et al. Astr. J. 105, 2236–2250 (1993).
Freedman, W. L. et al. Astrophys. J. 427, 628–655 (1994).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marcaide, J., Alberdi, A., Ros, E. et al. Discovery of shell-like radio-structure in SN1993J. Nature 373, 44–45 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/373044a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/373044a0
This article is cited by
-
Radio emission from supernova remnants
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review (2015)
-
A case for the standard model
Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy (1997)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
