High-Z Supernova Search

Type Ia Supernovae

Unfortunately, they are very rare. The last one seen in our galaxy was in 1006. At the time, it would have been incredibly bright - easily visible in daylight.

The idea to measure the Universe with Supernovae has long been contemplated, but it is only in the past decade that it has become feasible. The first distant SN Ia was discovered in 1988 by a Danish team, but it wasn't until 1994 that they were discovered in large numbers. Since 1995 two teams have been discovering these objects: Our team, the High-Z SN Search, and the Supernova Cosmology Project.

To measure the fate of the Universe, we need both distant and nearby objects, as it is only through the comparison of nearby and distant objects that the Universe's expansion history can be determined.

It was not until 1996 that the first good nearby sample was was obtained by a group at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). More measurements such as these will eventually enable us to use type Ia supernovae to determine the ultimate fate of the Universe.