Environment and luminosity of supernova remnants

✍ Scribed by L. K. Hunt; S. P. Reynolds

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 121 KB
• Volume: 327
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-6337
• DOI: 10.1002/asna.200610554

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The explosion of supernovae and the evolution of their remnants (SNRs) accelerate cosmic rays over a vast range of timescales. Magnetic fields can be investigated indirectly through one of the observational signatures of this acceleration, namely radio synchrotron emission. With the aim of better understanding the role of the magnetic field in supernova evolution, we explore the variation of SNR radio luminosities with physical conditions in the surrounding interstellar medium. With a data set that comprises more than 90 individual SNRs in 10 galaxies, and a range of 3000 in ISM density and 10^4^ in radio synchrotron luminosity, we find a significant correlation between the two quantities. The observed trends support the hypothesis that adiabatic compression of magnetic fields by itself is insuf.cient to explain the radio emission of the brighter and more luminous in SNRs. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)