Related papers: Supernova 1604, Kepler's supernova, and its remnan…
Models for the progenitor systems of Type Ia supernovae can be divided into double-degenerate systems, which contain two white dwarfs, and single-degenerate systems, which contain one white dwarf plus one companion star (either a red giant,…
Type Ia supernovae are exploding stars that are used to measure the accelerated expansion of the Universe and are responsible for most of the iron ever produced. Although there is general agreement that the exploding star is a white dwarf…
The brightness of type Ia supernovae, and their homogeneity as a class, makes them powerful tools in cosmology, yet little is known about the progenitor systems of these explosions. They are thought to arise when a white dwarf accretes…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) play important roles in our study of the expansion and acceleration of the Universe, but because we do not know the exact nature or natures of the progenitors, there is a systematic uncertainty that must be…
Although Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are a major tool in cosmology and play a key role in the chemical evolution of galaxies, the nature of their progenitor systems (apart from the fact that they must contain at least one white dwarf, that…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are runaway thermonuclear explosions in white dwarfs that result in the disruption of the white dwarf star, and possibly its nearby stellar companion. SNe Ia occur over an immense range of stellar population age…
One promising method to test progenitor models for Type Ia supernovae is to identify surviving companion stars in historical supernova remnants. A surviving companion will have been strongly affected by its interaction with the supernova…
Characterization of the relatively poorly-understood progenitor systems of Type Ia supernovae is of great importance in astrophysics, particularly given the important cosmological role that these supernovae play. Kepler's Supernova Remnant,…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe) serve as a fundamental pillar of modern cosmology, owing to their large luminosity and a well-defined relationship between light-curve shape and peak brightness. The precision distance measurements enabled by SNe Ia…
I determine the expansion of the supernova remnant of SN1604 (Kepler's supernova) based on archival Chandra ACIS-S observations made in 2000 and 2006. The measurements were done in several distinct energy bands, and were made for the…
The explosive death of a star as a supernova is one of the most dramatic events in the Universe. Supernovae have an outsized impact on many areas of astrophysics: they are major contributors to the chemical enrichment of the cosmos and…
Type Ia supernovae, with their remarkably homogeneous light curves and spectra, have been used as standardizable candles to measure the accelerating expansion of the Universe. Yet, their progenitors remain elusive. Common explanations…
Multiple channels have been proposed to produce Type Ia supernovae, with many scenarios suggesting that the exploding white dwarf accretes from a binary companion pre-explosion. In almost all cases, theory suggests that this companion will…
Based on the iron and hydrogen similar elliptical morphologies of the type Ia supernova (SN Ia) remnant (SNR) 0509-67.5, I suggest that the ambient gas shaped the SN ejecta, that it is a remnant of an old planetary nebula, and that the…
SN 1006 (G327.6+14.6) was the brightest supernova (SN) witnessed in human history. As of one thousand years later, it stands out as an ideal laboratory to study Type Ia SNe and shocks in supernova remnants (SNRs). The present state of…
SN 2017jgh is a type IIb supernova discovered by Pan-STARRS during the C16/C17 campaigns of the Kepler/K2 mission. Here we present the Kepler/K2 and ground based observations of SN 2017jgh, which captured the shock cooling of the progenitor…
Cassiopeia A is one of the youngest supernova remnants known in the Milky Way and a unique laboratory for supernova physics. We present an optical spectrum of the Cassiopeia A supernova near maximum brightness, obtained from observations of…
Type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are important distance indicators, element factories, cosmic-ray accelerators, kinetic-energy sources in galaxy evolution, and endpoints of stellar binary evolution. It has long been clear that a SN Ia must be…
Type Ia supernovae are vital to our understanding of the Universe due to their use in measuring cosmological distances and their significance in enriching the interstellar medium with heavy elements. They are understood to be the…
Although Type Ia supernovae have been heavily scrutinized due to their use in making cosmological distance estimates, we are still unable to definitively identify the progenitors for the entire population. While answers have been presented…