DOI

https://doi.org/10.48717/80bn-av80

Project

EW029

Title

Monitoring the old, discovering the new, mas-scale radio emission in M82

Abstract

M82 is a nearby (D~3.5 Mpc) supernova factory with dozens of compact radio sources, including SNRs, HII regions and variable sources. VLBI observations of M82's compact radio source population allow us to constrain supernova rates and star formation rates which are crucial for constraining the initial mass function of the galaxy. We request 46 hours of EVN+e-MERLIN observations in order to continue the 30 year+ monitoring and evolution of the M82 source population. These 46 hours will be separated into two 23 hour runs at 1.6 and 5 GHz to allow us to characterise the source structures, spectral indices and fluxes of the compact radio sources. EVN observations of M82 were last performed in 2016 and these data combined with e-MERLIN observations over the last decade are close to publication. These observations are timely for ongoing projects looking at the long-term evolution of specific objects such as the extended structures of the SNR 43.31+592, 41.95+57.5, SN2008iz and the `transient' source 43.78+59.3, as well as performing the first mas-scale observations of recently discovered sources outside the central kpc of M82.