graduate

Exploring the dynamic radio sky

TYPEAstrophysics Seminar
Speaker:Assaf Horesh
Affiliation:Caltech
Organizer:Hagai Perets
Date:04.04.2013
Time:14:30 - 15:00
Location:Lidow 620
Abstract:The field of time domain is going through a revolution. Not only that the current large optical transient surveys allow the discovery of a plethora of supernovae, but an increasing number of supernovae are discovered at a young age, a few hours to a day after explosion. Combined with the new capabilities of radio observatories such as the Jansky Very Large Array, this enables a comprehensive pan-wavelength study of supernovae at an early stage. I will review our results from early radio observations of supernovae in the last year. In short, through our campaign, we were able to rule out a subset of type Ia supernova progenitors, learn about the microphysical parameters of type IIb supernova shockwaves and discover a fast evolving radio supernova. These latest results bode well for future studies of young supernovae. Moreover, the new capabilities of the VLA allowed us to perform a dedicated radio transient survey over a relatively large area. I will present some of the results from our survey.