2009/02/24 by Christopher J. Stockdale, Kurt W. Weiler, Stockdale, Christopher J. +19
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #astro-ph.CO #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0902.4059
8 pages, 4 figures. White Paper submitted to the Astro2010 SSE panel
arxiv created 2009/02/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
Prior to explosion, a supernova progenitor slowly loses significant amounts of its hydrogen envelope in a stellar wind. After the explosion, the blastwave interacts with this wind producing synchrotron emission. A year of radio observations allows us to probe the progenitor evolution for a thousand years. The EVLA and SKA would represent more than an order of magnitude improvement in our ability to explore the pre-explosion lives of a significantly large population of supernova progenitor stars. It will allow us to move beyond the crude optical classifications and develop a deeper physical understanding of how massive stars live and die.