324 research outputs found
[Sabbatical Report]
I spent my AY2014 sabbatical year at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), with plans of completing the analyses of supernova rates for both thermonuclear and corecolliape events in high redshift galaxies from the Multi-cycle Treasury Projects with the Hubble Space Telescope
Empirical Delay Time Distributions of Type Ia Supernovae From The Extended GOODS/HST Supernova Survey
Using the Hubble Space Telescope ACS imaging of the GOODS North and South
fields during Cycles 11, 12, and 13, we derive empirical constraints on the
delay-time distribution function for type Ia supernovae. We extend our previous
analysis to the three-year sample of 56 SNe Ia over the range 0.2<z<1.8, using
a Markov chain Monte Carlo to determine the best-fit unimodal delay-time
distribution function. The test, which ultimately compares the star formation
rate density history to the unbinned volumetric SN Ia rate history from the
GOODS/HST-SN survey, reveals a SN Ia delay-time distribution that is tightly
confined to 3-4 Gyrs (to >95% confidence). This result is difficult to resolve
with any intrinsic delay-time distribution function (bimodal or otherwise), in
which a substantial fraction (e.g., >10%) of events are ``prompt'', requiring
less than approximately 1 Gyr to develop from formation to explosion. The
result is, however, strongly motivated by the decline in the number of SNe Ia
at z>1.2. Sub-samples of the HST-SN data confined to lower redshifts (z<1) show
plausible delay-time distributions that are dominated by prompt events, which
is more consistent with results from low-redshift supernova samples and
supernova host galaxy properties. Scenarios in which a substantial fraction of
z>1.2 supernovae are extraordinarily obscured by dust may partly explain the
differences in low-z and high-z results. Other possible resolutions may include
environmental dependencies (such as gas-phase metallicity) that affect the
progenitor mechanism efficiency, especially in the early universe.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted to the Astrophysical Journa
The Deepest Supernova Search is Realized in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey has not only provided the deepest optical
and near infrared views of universe, but has enabled a search for the most
distant supernovae to z~2.2. We have found four supernovae by searching spans
of integrations of the Ultra Deep Field and the Ultra Deep Field Parallels
taken with the Hubble Space Telescope paired with the Advanced Camera for
Surveys and the Near Infrared Multi Object Spectrometer. Interestingly, none of
these supernovae were at z>1.4, despite the substantially increased sensitivity
per unit area to such objects over the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey.
We present the optical photometric data for the four supernovae. We also show
that the low frequency of Type Ia supernovae observed at z>1.4 is statistically
consistent with current estimates of the global star formation history combined
with the non-trivial assembly time of SN Ia progenitors.Comment: 24 pages (6 figures), submitted to the Astronomical Journa
Optical Photometry of the Type Ia SN 1999ee and the Type Ib/c SN 1999ex in IC 5179
We present UBVRIz lightcurves of the Type Ia SN 1999ee and the Type Ib/c SN
1999ex, both located in the galaxy IC 5179. SN 1999ee has an extremely well
sampled lightcurve spanning from 10 days before Bmax through 53 days after
peak. Near maximum we find systematic differences ~0.05 mag in photometry
measured with two different telescopes, even though the photometry is reduced
to the same local standards around the supernova using the specific color terms
for each instrumental system. We use models for our bandpasses and
spectrophotometry of SN 1999ee to derive magnitude corrections (S-corrections)
and remedy this problem. This exercise demonstrates the need of accurately
characterizing the instrumental system before great photometric accuracies of
Type Ia supernovae can be claimed. It also shows that this effect can have
important astrophysical consequences since a small systematic shift of 0.02 mag
in the B-V color can introduce a 0.08 mag error in the extinction corrected
peak B magnitudes of a supernova and thus lead to biased cosmological
parameters. The data for the Type Ib/c SN 1999ex present us with the first ever
observed shock breakout of a supernova of this class. These observations show
that shock breakout occurred 18 days before Bmax and support the idea that Type
Ib/c supernovae are due to core collapse of massive stars rather than
thermonuclear disruption of white dwarfs.Comment: 55 pages, 15 figures, accepted by the Astronomical Journa
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