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Originally published in Science Express on 10 June 2004
Science 25 June 2004:
Vol. 304. no. 5679, pp. 1947 - 1949
DOI: 10.1126/science.1099460
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Reports

Discovery of a Compact Radio Component in the Center of Supernova 1986J

Michael F. Bietenholz,1* Norbert Bartel,1 Michael P. Rupen2

Very-long-baseline interferometry observations have revealed a bright, compact radio component near the center of the expanding shell of supernova 1986J. The component, not present in earlier images, has an inverted radio spectrum different from that of the shell. Such an inversion has not been seen in the spectrum of any other supernova. The new component is likely radio emission associated either with accretion onto a black hole or with the nebula formed around an energetic young neutron star in the center of SN 1986J, which would directly link either a black hole or a neutron star to a modern supernova.

1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
2 National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mbieten{at}yorku.ca

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)