Abstract

Contributed Talk - Splinter SNR

Tuesday, 12 September 2023, 15:20   (H 2035)

Milky Way's missing supernova remnant problem

Rohit Dokara
Max Planck Institute for Radio astronomy

The supernova rate of the Milky Way implies that there must be about 2000 supernova remnants (SNR) in our Galaxy at the moment. The number of observed SNRs so far, however, is only less than 400. Recent technological upgrades concerning the wide-band receiver systems on radio interferometer arrays made sensitive, large-scale, high-resolution surveys more feasible. The continuum images resulting from such Galactic plane surveys have led to the identification of over 150 SNR candidates in just the last 10 years. We are currently trying to confirm that these candidates are SNRs indeed, using radio measurements of linear polarization and spectral index. In my talk, I will describe these efforts in detail, focusing on the results from the recent 4-8 GHz global view on star formation (GLOSTAR) survey, which was performed with the Very Large Array and the 100 meter Effelsberg telescope. I will also discuss our current limitations and the way forward in the near future to reach a consensus on the actual number of SNRs in the Milky Way.