Radio Supernovae

Supernovae (SNe), the catastrophic end of stars’ lives, are among the most energetic phenomena in the universe. Mapping the aftermath of the explosions to the properties of pre-SN stars is challenging due to the lack of knowledge about the evolution of different types of stars. The immediate surroundings of pre-SN stars carry the signature of the progenitors, and radio observations are the best way to examine the ambient media. Since radio emission originates from the interaction of supersonic SN ejecta with the relatively stationary circumstellar medium, with a few years of radio study, the mass-loss history of progenitor stars can be probed from just before the explosion of the star to thousands of years before the onset of the SN. Moreover, this can provide crucial details about the explosions, which are poorly understood to date. In this paper, we review the radio properties of different types of core-collapse explosions and thermonuclear runaways to understand their mass-loss evolution—which allows us to unravel the imprints of the progenitors on the surrounding media and thus the nature of the exploded stars. Additionally, we discuss the current state of the art in this field, including existing and the next-generation radio facilities with enhanced capabilities that provide further details about these explosions.