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Our ability to study the most remote supernova explosions, crucial for the understanding of the evolution of the high-redshift universe and its expansion rate, is limited by the light collection capabilities of telescopes. However, nature…
A rare class of `super-luminous' supernovae that are about ten or more times more luminous at their peaks than other types of luminous supernovae has recently been found at low to intermediate redshifts. A small subset of these events have…
Superluminous supernovae are a new class of supernovae that were recognized about a decade ago. Both observational and theoretical progress has been significant in the last decade. In this review, we first briefly summarize the…
Supernovae in distant galaxies that are gravitationally lensed by foreground galaxy clusters make excellent cosmological candles for measuring quantities like the density of the Universe in its various components and the Hubble constant.…
We study the light curve of SN 1604 using the historical data collected at the time of observation of the outburst. Comparing the supernova with recent SNe Ia of various rates of decline after maximum light, we find that this event looks…
The ultimate fate of the universe, infinite expansion or a big crunch, can be determined by measuring the redshifts, apparent brightnesses, and intrinsic luminosities of very distant supernovae. Recent developments have provided tools that…
I review our current understanding of superluminous supernovae, mysterious events 100 times brighter than conventional stellar explosions.
The observed luminosity -- temperature relation of clusters is considerably steeper than that expected from a simple scaling relation. Although extra energy input is a likely solution, its source has not been identified. We propose…
Supernova 2006gy in the galaxy NGC 1260 is the most luminous one recorded \cite{2006CBET..644....1Q, 2006CBET..647....1H, 2006CBET..648....1P, 2006CBET..695....1F}. Its progenitor might have been a very massive ($>100$ \msun) star…
With a redshift of z~1.7, SN 1997ff is the most distant type Ia supernova discovered so far. This SN is close to several bright, z=0.6-0.9 galaxies, and we consider the effects of lensing by those objects on the magnitude of SN 1997ff. We…
The results from the Supernova Cosmology Project indicate a relation between cosmic distance and redshift that corresponds to an accelerating Universe, and, as a consequence, the presence of an energy component with negative pressure. This…
The physics of the supernova may provide a clue of the cosmological dark matter. In the absence of new physics, the supernova calculations do not explain the observed velocities of pulsars. However, if there exists a singlet fermion with…
Quasars have reigned as the most luminous and distant objects in the Universe. These concepts were based on the hypothesis that the redshifts of quasars are obeying the Hubble low. This hypothesis has little serious competition today, but…
Supernova explosions are one of the most energetic--and potentially lethal--phenomena in the Universe. Scientists have speculated for decades about the possible consequences for life on Earth of a nearby supernova, but plausible candidates…
The Telescope Array Collaboration has observed an excess of events with $E \ge 10^{19.4} ~{\rm eV}$ in the data which is centered at (RA, dec) = ($19^\circ$, $35^\circ$). This is near the center of the Perseus-Pisces supercluster (PPSC).…
The hypothesis that the speed of light decreases by nearly 2 cm per sec and per year is discussed within the frame of a simple phenomenological model. It is shown that this hypothesis can provide an alternative explanation for the…
Recently Supernova 2006gy was noted as the most luminous ever recorded, with a total radiated energy of ~10^44 Joules. It was proposed that the progenitor may have been a massive evolved star similar to eta Carinae, which resides in our own…
Recent observations of sub-millimeter continuum emission toward supernova remnants (SNR) have raised the question of whether such emission is caused by dust within the SNR and thus produced by the supernova itself or along the…
Type Ia supernovae are the best cosmological standard candles available. The intrinsic scatter of their decline-rate- and colour-corrected peak brightnesses in the Hubble diagram is within observational error limits, corresponding to an…
The Cygnus Loop is among the brightest and best studied evolved Galactic supernova remnants. However, its distance has remained uncertain thus undermining quantitative understanding about many of its fundamental properties. Here we present…