A Search for Radio Emission from Young Extragalactic Supernova Remnants

Abstract

In the radio domain supernova remnants (SNR) are among the brightest discrete sources in our galaxy. Although their radio luminosity (10^33–35 erg s ⁻¹) is only small compared to the optical luminosity of the supernova (SN) event itself, the radio remnants are still of interest because the radio emission, caused by the synchrotron mechanism, points to the existence of a large energy reservoir in relativistic electrons and magnetic fields, typically of the order of 10⁴⁹ ergs. No satisfactory theory thas yet been proposed for the origin of this energy reservoir and since some young SNR already exhibit many diverse properties, it is even doubtful whether one unique theory exists or should be looked for.