Supernovae and their Cosmological Applications

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Filippenko, Alexei "Supernovae and Their Cosmological Applications" AST-9987438 Dr. Filippenko will continue a very successful program that discovers, performs follow-up observations with a robotic telescope (KAIT), and ultimately incorporates the resulting data on stellar supernova events into appropriate cosmological models. Multi-color, long-term light curves of all sufficiently bright supernovae are being obtained. Special emphasis will be placed on catching the generally neglected earliest stages of supernova outbursts. The primary goal of the proposed research is to improve understanding of the progenitor stars, explosion mechanisms, and nucleosynthetic products of supernovae. This work has contributed directly and measurably to the recent discovery of the accelerating universe. Funding for this project was provided by the NSF program for Stellar Astronomy & Astrophysics (AST/SAA).