All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae: Big Science with Small Telescopes

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

Even in the present day, only human eyes monitor the entire night sky. There is no optical survey that frequently images and records the entire celestial sphere, seeking out the transient, variable, and sometimes violent events that occur in our Universe. The "All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae" (ASAS-SN) will automatically survey the entire visible sky every other night. ASAS-SN is already producing a steady stream of important discoveries. ASAS-SN will also provide a critical training ground for the next generation of time-domain astronomers, a field that will eventually be transformed by the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. The major scientific goal of this proposal is to significantly enhance our understanding of supernovae, both core-collapse and thermonuclear. This team will complete an unbiased census of bright, nearby supernovae, and they will study these events and their hosts in detail. ASAS-SN is currently making more than 50% of all the bright (<17 mag) SNe discoveries and recovering most of the rest. Bright and nearby SNe, discovered early by this high-cadence survey, are especially valuable, as they and their host galaxies are easy to study using small (1-2m) telescopes. ASAS-SN should lead to new, unbiased derivations of supernova rates and a better understanding of supernova properties as a function of stellar age and metallicity. This survey will be publicly releasing data, already including a transient list, just released "ASAS-SN CV Patrol", and future "ASAS-SN Patrols" of continuously updated light curves for other interesting classes of objects. All-sky catalogues of variable stars will be gradually released as well.