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S.-P. Lai, S.Y. Kim, B.C. Dunne, C.H.R. Chen, R. Chen, W.C. Lin, Y.-H. Chu (UIUC)
Two unusually energetic supernova remnants (SNRs) in M101, NGC 5471B and MF83, have been suggested to be produced by hypernovae, possible candidates for gamma ray bursts (Wang 1999, ApJL, in press). We have obtained new HST WFPC2 images of NGC 5471B and new KPNO 4m echelle spectra of NGC 5471B and MF83. We have also uncovered 13-yr old KPNO 2.1m CCD images of MF83. These data allow us to examine the stellar and interstellar environments, and to determine the expansion velocities, masses, and kinetic energies of these two remnants. Using these results and Sedov's similarity solution for a point blast, we can further derive the explosion energies, remnant ages, and ambient densities. These results are critically examined to test the suggestion that they are hypernova remnants.
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