VLBA26A-348
Revealing Engine-Driven Cocoons in Nearby Stripped-Envelope Core-Collapse SNe
Abstract
Stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae (Type Ib/c SNe) with broad lines (Ic-BL) represent about 5% of all core-collapse SNe. SNe Ic-BL are uniquely linked to long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), extremely rare and energetic stellar explosions. In the jet-engine model, GRBs arise from relativistic jets launched during core collapses, but such successful jets are observed in only ~1% of SNe Ib/c. More commonly, the jet fails to break out of the star, producing a choked jet that inflates a cocoon of hot material. This cocoon can drive mildly relativistic outflows, producing detectable non-thermal radio emission even in the absence of a GRB. Detecting cocoon signatures in Ic-BL SNe would provide strong evidence for a continuum of jet-driven outcomes, from successful GRBs to failed jets and ordinary stripped-envelope SNe, offering key insights into massive stellar death and new opportunities for multi-messenger astronomy. However, late-time radio light curves alone cannot resolve ambiguities between engine-driven emission and circumstellar interaction. Here, we propose a direct test of the jet-engine scenario in three nearby SNe Ib/c by measuring the size of their radio-emitting ejecta using high-resolution HSA observations. In order to optimize our observing setup for HSA observations, we also request VLA observations via a joint proposal.
Investigators
| Name | Institution |
|---|---|
| Alessandra Corsi * | Johns Hopkins University |
| Tanner O'Dwyer | Johns Hopkins University; Texas Tech University |
| Arvind Balasubramanian | Indian Institute of Astrophysics |
| Anna Ho | National Radio Astronomy Observatory; California at Berkeley, University of; Cornell University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie; California Institute of Technology |
| Genevieve Schroeder | Northwestern University; Cornell University |
| Sarah Spolaor | West Virginia University |
| Marquice Sanchez-Fleming | Cornell University |
| GBT Operator | Green Bank Observatory |
* indicates the PI