Compact Radio Sources in the Field of Tycho's Supernova Remnant

TL;DR

This study used high-resolution radio observations to identify compact sources in Tycho's supernova remnant field, finding all are likely extragalactic and unrelated to the supernova event.

Contribution

The paper provides the first high-resolution radio survey of the Tycho supernova remnant field, establishing the extragalactic nature of detected sources and constraining potential donor companions.

Findings

Detected 36 compact sources consistent with background expectations.

No sources with large proper motions were found.

All sources are likely extragalactic and unrelated to the supernova.

Abstract

We present sensitive, high angular resolution Jansky Very Large Array observations made in 2014 at 1.50 GHz toward the field of Tycho's supernova remnant. We detect a total of 36 compact sources in a field with radius of 13 arcmin. This number is consistent with the expected number of background sources. We use older observations made with the classic Very Large Array to compare with the 2014 observations and search for sources showing large proper motions that could be related to the donor companion of the exploding white dwarf that produced the supernova in 1572. The comparison of the positions for the two sets of observations does not show sources with large proper motions and supports the conclusion that all sources detected are extragalactic and unrelated to the supernova field.