We review ten years of radio continuum and X-ray monitoring of the Type IIb SN 1993J in M81. The supernova (SN) has been observed continuously, since only a few days after explosion, by our group with the Very Large Array at a number of radio frequencies, as well as by other groups. As a result, it is among the best-studied radio supernovae. The observed synchrotron radio emission is thought to arise from the interaction of the SN shock with the pre-SN wind-established circumstellar medium around the progenitor star. We describe the properties of the circumstellar interaction, based on the more fully-developed dataset, and compare this to our earlier characterization made in 1994. SN 1993J has also been a target of X-ray satellites, and we briefly discuss the nature of the X-ray emission and, together with the radio emission, describe the implications for the nature of the SN’s progenitor.

SN 1993J has been imaged with VLBI, and its angular expansion monitored, for almost ten years. The images show shell-like radio structures with almost circular symmetry. SN 1993J expands according to models of shock excited emission. The angular expansion has a changing deceleration rate and is best modeled with two different slopes. The swept-up mass estimate at an age of 3159 days (∼0.4 M⊙), comparable to the low-mass envelope, favors a binary scenario. The observed spectral index of SN 1993J has slowly flattened since age 1000 days onward (α has changed from −1 to −0.67 at an age of 2820 days).

We present a selection of our VLBI images of SN 1993J, along with our latest results on its expansion and its shell structure.

An accurate measurement of the expansion deceleration of SN 1993J depends on how well the shell size and its emission structure are known. With the goal of determining the emission structure of the shell, we have developed a new approach, which we call “Green Function Deconvolution” (GFD), based on iterative use of Green functions on the sky plane to reconstruct the radial emission profiles of spherically symmetric sources. This approach works reasonably well in the case of optically thin emitting sources, which is not the case for SN 1993J since, as we find, the emission from the central part of SN 1993J further away from us is strongly or totally absorbed. We describe the GFD method and present our findings about the emission structure of the shell. We also present the expansion of SN 1993J based on a method complementary to GFD, which will be described elsewhere.

We review the existing set of optical/UV/IR observations of Supernova 1993J, concentrating heavily on optical data because these are by far the most plentiful. Some results from theoretical modeling of the observations are also discussed. SN 1993J has provided the best observational evidence for the transformation of a SN from one spectral type to another, thereby providing a link between Type II and Type Ib supernovae (SNe). This has strengthened the argument that SNe Ib (and, by extension, SNe Ic) are core-collapse events. SN 1993J has remained relatively bright for 10 years; its late-time emission comes from the collision of supernova ejecta with circumstellar gas that was released by the progenitor prior to the explosion. The circumstellar material shows strong evidence of CNO processing.

We present calculations of the radio images and light curves from supernovae, based on high-resolution numerical simulations of the hydrodynamics and radiation transfer in a spherically symmetric medium. As a specific example we model the emission from SN1993J. This supernova does not appear to be expanding in a self-similar fashion, and cannot be adequately fitted with the often-used analytic mini-shell model. We present a good fit to the radio evolution at a single frequency. Both free-free absorption and synchrotron self-absorption are needed to fit the light curve at early times, and a circumstellar density profile of ρ ~ r−1.7 provides the best fit to the later data. Comparisons of VLBI images of SN1993J with synthetic model images suggest that internal free-free absorption completely obscures emission at 8.4 GHz passing through the center of the supernova for the first few tens of years after explosion.

In April 2001 SN1993J was observed with both the PN and MOS cameras of the XMM-Newton observatory. A 2-component thermal emission model assuming ionization equilibrium provides a good fit to the spectrum in the 0.3 to 11 keV energy band, but fits to shock models show also acceptable results. The development of the X-ray temperatures over the first 8 years after the explosion is discussed in the light of the standard SN model. The long term X-ray lightcurve shows a general decline of the luminosity with Lx ∝ t−0.30.

Modeling of radio and X-ray observations of supernovae interacting with their circumstellar media are discussed, with special application to SN 1993J and SN 2002ap. We emphasize the importance of including all relevant physical mechanisms, especially for the modeling of the radio light curves. The different conclusions for the absorption mechanism (free-free or synchrotron self-absorption), as well as departures from an ρ ∝ r−2 CSM, as inferred by some authors, are discussed in detail. We conclude that the evidence for a variation in the mass loss rate with time is very weak. The results regarding the efficiencies of magnetic field generation and relativistic particle acceleration are summarized.

We present a detailed late-time photometric and spectroscopic study of SN1993J with HST/ACS and Keck LRIS-B. We find a clear signature of a hot star component in the spectra of SN1993J which cannot be explained by the surrounding faint blue stars. This is the first detection of the expected massive binary companion to the red supergiant progenitor and confirms that SN1993J did indeed arise in an interacting binary system.

I describe and interpret observations of the rapidly developing impact of the debris of SN1987A with its circumstellar ring.

SN1987A has an intrinsic radio luminosity some four orders of magnitude less than SN1993J at maximum, largely a reflection of the tenuous wind . from the progenitor of SN1987A before explosion. Both remnants have an edge-brightened, ring-like morphology though, in the case of SN1987A, the expansion rate is currently only around 3500 km s−1. The flux density of the remnant of SN1987A continues to rise at all measured radio frequencies. Its spectral index is gradually flattening, indicating its transition into the supernova remnant phase. A campaign to increase the resolution of radio imaging by observing at higher frequencies is underway with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA).

The high resolution obtained through the use of VLBI gives an unique opportunity to directly observe the interaction of an expanding radio supernova with its surrounding medium. We present here results from our VLBI observations of the young supernovae SN 1979C, SN 1986J, and SN 2001gd.

We summarize our results on multi-epoch VLBI observations of SN 1979C in the galaxy M100 in Virgo, and of SN 1986 in the galaxy NGC 891. From t = 3.7 to 22 yr after the explosion, SN 1979C expands ∝ tm, almost freely, with m = 0.95 ± 0.03. For a total kinetic energy of 3 × 1051 erg, the expansion result requires a mass-loss to wind-velocity ratio for the progenitor of only 1 × 10−5 M⊙ yr−1per 10 km s−1, an order of magnitude smaller than estimated from radio light-curve fitting. We show a first image with slightly discernible structure of the supernova. For SN 1986J we present five images from 1987 to 2002 and show our result on moderately to strongly decelerated expansion with m = 0.71 ± 0.11. We comment on our result of an inversion of the radio spectrum in terms of the emergence of a possible pulsar nebula.

We present and analyze spectra of the Type IIn supernova 1994W obtained between 18 and 202 days after explosion. During the first 100 days the line profiles are composed of three major components: (i) narrow P Cygni lines with absorption minima at −700 km s−1; (ii) broad emission lines with blue velocity at zero intensity ~ 4000 km s−1; (iii) broad, smooth, extended wings most apparent in Hα. These components are identified with the expanding circumstellar (CS) envelope [5], shocked cool gas in the forward postshock region, and multiple Thomson scattering in the CS envelope, respectively. The absence of broad P Cygni lines from the supernova (SN) is the result of the formation of an optically thick, cool, dense shell at the interface of the ejecta and the CS envelope. Models of the SN deceleration and Thomson scattering wings are used to recover the Thomson optical depth of the CS envelope, τT ≥ 2.5 during first month, its density (n ~ 109 cm-3) and radial extent, ~ (4 — 5) × 1015 cm. The plateau-like SN light curve, which we reproduce by a hydrodynamical model, is powered by a combination of internal energy leakage after the explosion of an extended presupernova (~ 1015 cm) and subsequent luminosity from circumstellar interaction. We recover the pre-explosion kinematics of the CS envelope and find it to be close to homologous expansion with outmost velocity ≈ 1100 km s-1 and a kinematic age of ~ 1.5 yr. The high mass (≈ 0.4 M⊙) and kinetic energy (≈ 2 × 1048 erg) of the CS envelope combined with small age strongly suggest that the CS envelope was explosively ejected only a few years before the SN explosion.

We present extensive radio observations of SN2003L, the most luminous and energetic Type Ic radio supernova with the exception of SN 1998bw. Using radio data, we are able to constrain the physical parameters of the supernova, including the velocity and energy of the fastest ejecta, the temporal evolution of the magnetic field, and the density profile of the surrounding medium. We highlight the extraordinary properties of the radio emission with respect to the supernova’s normal characteristics within optical bands. We find that although the explosion does not show evidence for a significant amount of relativistic ejecta, it produces a radio luminosity which is comparable to that seen in the unusual SN1998bw. Using SN2003L as an example, we comment briefly on the broad diversity of type Ic properties and the associated implications for progenitor models.

Supernova 2001ig in NGC 7424 has been observed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array at ~2 week intervals since its discovery, making this the best-studied Type IIb radio supernova since SN 1993J. We present radio light curves for frequencies from 1.4 to 20 GHz, and preliminary attempts to model the observed behavior. Since peaking in radio luminosity at 8.6 and 4.8 GHz some 1-2 months after the explosion, SN 2001ig has on at least two occasions deviated significantly from a smooth decline, indicative of interaction with a dense circumstellar medium and possibly of periodic progenitor mass-loss.

SN 2002bo, a type Ia supernova in NGC 3190, is the first object of the European Supernova Collaboration (ESC). It was discovered on 09 March 2002 and is one of the earliest observed SNe. An almost complete set of spectra and photometry is available from 13 days before maximum B light until a few days after. An analysis using synthetic spectra is presented, focusing on the controversial issue of the reddening of SN 2002bo.

Detailed, multi-frequency radio observations of supernovae have shown that the radio emission can be understood as a blastwave interacting with a structured circumstellar medium (CSM) and modeling of the radio light curves allows estimation of the physical conditions in this medium. CSM structures, properties of the presupernova system, and the evolution of the system in the last stages before explosion can then be derived.

Radio and X-ray studies of young supernovae probe the interaction between the supernova shock waves and the surrounding medium and give clues to the nature and past of the progenitor star. Here we discuss the early emission from type Ic SN 2002ap and argue that repeated Compton boosting of optical photons by hot electrons presents the most natural explanation of the prompt X-ray emission. We describe the radio spectrum of another type Ic SN 2003dh (GRB030329) obtained with combined GMRT and VLA data. We report on the low frequency radio monitoring of SN 1995N and our objectives of distinguishing between competing models of X-ray emission from this SN and the nature of its progenitor by X-ray spectroscopy. Radio studies on SN 2001gd, SN 2001ig and SN 2002hh are mentioned.

In this paper are summarized the main advances of the last years in the field of SN spectra . The arguments against a monodimensional sequence for SNIa are discussed as well as the efforts to improve the temporal and spectral coverage of this kind of SNe, with the aim to understand the physics of the explosions for their use as cosmological distance indicators. Although variety is the main character of core-collapse SNe, we have been recently surprised by both exceptionally under and over-energetic explosions. The main properties of these two extreme subclasses are here reviewed.