Recent VLBI Results on SN 1986J and the Possibility of FRBs Originating from Inside the Expanding Ejecta of Supernovae

Abstract

We discuss our VLA and VLBI observations of supernova 1986J, which is characterized by a compact radio-bright component within the expanding shell of ejecta. No other supernova (SN) has such a central component at cm wavelengths. The central component therefore provides a unique probe of the propagation of radio signals at cm wavelengths through the ejecta of a young SN. Such a probe is important in the context of Fast Radio Bursts (FRB), which, in many models, are thought to be produced by young magnetars or neutron stars. The FRB signals would therefore have to propagate through the expanding SN ejecta. Our observations of the Type II SN 1986J show that its ejecta will remain opaque to cm-wave emission like FRBs for at least several decades after the explosion, and by the time the ejecta have become transparent, the contribution of the ejecta to the dispersion measure is likely small. * Speaker.