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VLBI observations of 23 hot spots in the starburst galaxy M82

DOI

43

Citations

0

References

1987

Year

N. Bartel, M. I. Ratner, A. E. E. Rogers, I. I. Shapiro, R. J. Bonometti, N. L. Cohen, M. V. Gorenstein, J. M. Marcaide, R. A. Preston
The Astrophysical Journal

Abstract

The authors have used the Mark III VLBI system to observe, at 2.3 and 8.4 GHz simultaneously, 23 hot spots in the nuclear region of the nearby starburst galaxy M82. The authors detected six hot spots at 2.3 GHz but only one at 8.4 GHz. The brightness distribution and an upper limit on the expansion rate of the brightest hot spot, 41.9+58, is derived. These results and the diameters and ages, or corresponding lower bounds, for 13 more hot spots are consistent with the hot spots in M82 being powerful supernova remnants with ages between ≡10 and ≡300 yr. The authors estimate a radio supernova rate of ≡0.1 yr<SUP>-1</SUP> for the inner 600 pc of M82.