A Holistic Study of Supernovae

Throughout history, observational supernova studies have focused
almost exclusively on their strong optical emission powered by the
radioactive decay of Nickel-56.  Yet many of the leading breakthroughs
in our understanding of supernovae and their progenitors have been
enabled by observations at other wavelengths.  For example, through
the combination of radio, optical, X-ray and gamma-ray observations,
we now know that less than 0 .1 percent of all core-collapse
supernovae require "central engines" (compact accreting sources) to
power associated gamma-ray bursts.  As I will discuss, it is the
growing sample of radio and X-ray observations of nearby supernovae
that are enabling rapid progress in revealing the nature of the GRB-SN
connection.  The fundamental question at this stage is clearly: which
key progenitor property enables such a small fraction of massive star
explosions to give rise to relativistic ejecta, and in turn, GRBs?
While progenitor mass, metallicity, and binarity are among the most
popular explanations, I will discuss how panchromatic observations
(radio through gamma-rays) of supernovae and their environments shed
light on this puzzle.