A transient radio source consistent with a merger-triggered core collapse supernova
Abstract
A core-collapse supernova occurs when exothermic fusion ceases in the core of a massive star, typically due to exhaustion of nuclear fuel. Theory predicts that fusion could be interrupted earlier, by merging of the star with a compact binary companion. We report a luminous radio transient, VT J121001+495647, found in the Very Large Array Sky Survey. The radio emission is consistent with supernova ejecta colliding with a dense shell of material, potentially ejected by binary interaction in the centuries prior to explosion. We associate the supernova with an archival X-ray transient, which implies a relativistic jet was launched during the explosion. The combination of an early relativistic jet and late-time dense interaction is consistent with expectations for a merger-driven explosion.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2109.01752,
title = {A transient radio source consistent with a merger-triggered core collapse supernova},
author = {Dillon Z. Dong and Gregg Hallinan and Ehud Nakar and Anna Y. Q. Ho and Andrew K. Hughes and Kenta Hotokezaka and Steve T. Myers and Kishalay De and Kunal Mooley and Vikram Ravi and Assaf Horesh and Mansi M. Kasliwal and Shri R. Kulkarni},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2109.01752},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
33 pages, 4 figures. v2: Updated fig 1 to include panel D