High Redshift Supernova Search
Supernova Cosmology Project

Discovery of an Unusual Optical Transient with the Hubble Space Telescope K. Barbary, et al., (Supernova Cosmology Project) 2009, ApJ, 690, 1358, arXiv:0809.1648

The SCP Union Compilation: Improved Cosmological Constraints from New, Old, and Combined Supernova Datasets M. Kowalski, et al., (Supernova Cosmology Project), accepted for publication in ApJ. and posted as astro-ph arXiv:0804.4142

Recent SCP Publications:

A New Determination of the High-Redshift Type Ia Supernova Rates with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys N. Kuznetsova, et al., (Supernova Cosmology Project), ApJ, 676 981 (2008).

Measurement of Ω_M, Ω_Λfrom a blind analysis of Type Ia supernovae with CMAGIC: Using color information to verify the acceleration of the universe A. Conley, et al., ApJ, 644, 1 (2006). Also available at astro-ph/0602411

Nonlinear Decline-Rate Dependence ad Intrinsic Variation of Type Ia Supernova Luminosities, L. Wang, M. Strovink, A. Conley, G. Goldhaber, M. Kowalski, S. Perlmutter, and J. Siegrist, ApJ, 641, 50 (2006). Also available at astro-ph/0512370

Spectra of High-Redshift Type Ia Supernovae and a Comparison with their Low-Redshift Counterparts, I. M. Hook, et al., AJ, 130, 2788 (2005) Also available at astro-ph/0509041 Data Release: Archive of Dataset used in this paper.

Spectroscopic Observations and Analysis of the Unusual Type Ia SN 1999ac G. Garvini, et al., AJ, 130, 2278 (2005). Also available at astro-ph/0507288 Data Release: Archive of Dataset used in this paper.

Restframe I-band Hubble Diagram for Type Ia Supernovae up to Redshift z ~ 0.5, S. Nobili et al., A&A, 437, 789 (2005). Also available at astro-ph/0504139

Observing Distant Type Ia Supernova with the ESO VLT, C. Lidman, ESO Messenger No 118, Dec. 2004

Spectroscopic confirmation of high-redshift supernovae with the ESO VLT, C. Lidman et al., Astronomy and Astrophysics 430:843-851, 2005 and also astro-ph/0410506 Version with full-resolution finding charts: pdf (8 MB), ps (21MB)

Spectroscopic Observations and Analysis of the Peculiar SN 1999aa, G. Garavini, et al., AJ 128, 3874, 2004, also available at astro-ph/0404393 Full-resolution figures Data Release: Archive of Dataset used in this paper.

New Constraints on Ω_M, Ω_Λ and w from an Independent Set of Eleven High-Redshift Supernovae Observed with HST, R. A. Knop et al, ApJ 598:102-137, 2003 November 20 [pdf]

Color Figures for Transparencies, from Knop et al, LBNL-53543, 2003 ApJ 598:102-137, 2003 November 20.

Figure 6. Top panel: Hubble Diagram for SCP low-extinction subsample; Bottom panel: Residuals relative to an empty universe. [pdf]
Top panel only of previous Hubble diagram Figure 6 [pdf]
Figure 8. Confidence regions for Omega_Mass vs Omega_Lambda [pdf]
Figure 8 with results from CMB and galaxy cluster data added. [pdf]
Figure 12. Joint measurements of Omega_Mass and w assuming a flat universe and w constant in time. [pdf]

Package of these slides in powerpoint format

For an recent overview of Supernova Cosmology research, see
Supernovae, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Universe, S. Perlmutter, Physics Today, April 2003 [pdf]

Figure 3. Observed magnitude versus redshift for well-measured distant and (in the inset) nearby type Ia supernovae. [pdf]
Figure 4. History of cosmic expansion, as measured by the high-redshift supernovae (black data points), assuming flat cosmic geometry. [pdf]

Recent SCP and related Publications:

Measuring Cosmology with Supernovae, Saul Perlmutter and Brian P. Schmidt, in Supernovae & Gamma Ray Bursts, K. Weiler, Ed., Springer, Lecture Notes in Physics (in press), astro-ph/0303428

Multi-Color Light Curves of Type Ia Supernovae on the Color-Magnitude Diagram: a Novel Step Toward More Precise Distance and Extinction Estimates, Lifan Wang, Gerson Goldhaber, Greg Aldering, Saul Perlmutter . Astrophys.J. 590 (2003) 944-970 Also available at astro-ph/0302341

The Hubble Diagram of Type Ia Supernovae as a Function of Host Galaxy Morphology, M. Sullivan, et al., (The Supernova Cosmology Project) astro-ph/0211444 ( MNRAS 340, 1057)

The distant Type Ia supernova rate, R. Pain, et al., (The Supernova Cosmology Project). postscript, pdf ApJ 577, 120 (2002). Also available at astro-ph/0205476

Timescale Stretch Parameterization of Type Ia Supernova B-band Light Curves, G. Goldhaber, et al. The Supernova Cosmology Project, ApJ..558, pp 359-368 (2001). Also available at astro-ph/0104382

K-corrections and Extinction Corrections for Type Ia Supernovae, Peter Nugent, Alex Kim, Saul Perlmutter postscript, pdf PASP 114, pp. 803-819, (2002). Also available at astro-ph/0205351 (May 21, 2002)

Nice Pictures, Explanations, Etc.

An explanation of the Supernova Cosmology Project and our current results is given in Berkeley Lab's December 17, 1998 Press Release: "Science Magazine's Breakthrough of the Year"

Click on the top left segment of this Poster from the January 1998 Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (i.e. the segment that looks like this:

), for an explanation of the technique developed by the Supernova Cosmology Project to find "batches" of newly-exploded very distant supernova, all at one time, all "on schedule."

Before-and-after pictures (and Hubble Space Telescope picture) of a high-redshift supernovae discovered by the Supernova Cosmology Project in March, 1998.

[JPEG][PDF][Postscript][large version of a JPEG image]

Movie clip: "What We Can 'See' in a Supernova."

[Explanation of the video][MPEG movie][Quicktime movie]

From January 9, 1998 Press Release, "Distant Exploding Stars Foretell Fate of the Universe." Pictures from the ground and from the Hubble Space Telescope: [PDF][JPEG][GIF][Picture Caption Text]

Articles about the project from the Berkeley Lab Research Review [Fall 97][1998]

Before-and-after picture of one of the high-redshift supernovae discovered by the Supernova Cosmology Project. [PDF]

January 16, 1996 Press Release: Discovery of the Most Distant Supernovae

Papers, Proceedings, Etc.

Measurements of Omega and Lambda from 42 High-Redshift Supernovae (Perlmutter et al., LBNL-41801, 1998, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, v. 516, no. 2) [Postscript preprint][Color Figures for Transparencies][Supplementary Materials: Numerical Tables]

Color Figures for Transparencies, from Perlmutter et al, LBNL-41801, 1998, ApJ (accepted for publication, v. 516, no. 2).

Click on figures to obtain Postscript files.

Figure 1: Hubble Diagram with 42 High-Redshift Supernovae (Log Redshift scale). [Postscript]
Figure 2: Hubble Diagram with 42 High-Redshift Supernovae (Linear Redshift scale), with magnitude residuals from best fit cosmology. [Postscript][GIF]
Figure 7: Confidence Region on Omega_Mass vs. Omega_Lambda Plane. [Postscript]
Figure 9: Age of the Universe Isochrones superposed on Omega_Mass vs. Omega_Lambda Confidence Region.[Postscript]
Figure 10: Confidence Region on Omega_Mass vs. w Plane, for an additional energy density characterized by an equation of state w = p/rho. [Postscript]

Stretch Corrected Hamuy Supernovae: This figured shows how the stretch correction aligns both the lightcurve width and peak magnitude for the nearby Hamuy supernovae. [GIF]

LBL Report LBL-42230: Presentation at the January 1998 Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Washington, DC. (referenced in Perlmutter et al., B.A.A.S., v. 29, no. 5, p. 1351, 1997) [Poster to view on web][Preprint in Postscript Format][Preprint in PDF Format]

Click on this image of the poster, to examine in detail.

Discovery of a Supernova Explosion at Half the Age of the Universe and its Cosmological Implications (Perlmutter et al., Nature, 1 January 1998) [Postscript][PDF]

Click on this image to obtain Postscript file of Figure 1 from Nature paper, comparing high-redshift supernova spectrum to time series of low-redshift spectra:

Implications for the Hubble Constant from the First 7 Supernovae at z >= 0.35. (Kim et al. ApJ 476:L63, 1997). [Postscript]

Measurements of the Cosmological Paramters Omega and Lambda from the First 7 Supernovae at z >= 0.35. (Perlmutter et al. ApJ, in press). [Postscript]

"A 200 x 200 CCD Image Sensor Fabricated On High-Resistivity Silicon," S.E. Holland et al., IEDM Tech. Digest, 911-914 (1996) [Postscript]

The Type Ia Supernova Rate at z~0.4. (Pain et al. ApJ 473:356, 1996). [Postscript]

Type Ia Supernovae & Cosmic Acceleration,'' Aldering, G. (2000), AIP Conference Proceeding: Cosmic Explosions, ed. S. S. Holt & W. W. Zhang, Woodbury, New York: American Institute of Physics. [Postscript]

Four Papers by the Supernova Cosmology Project to appear in Thermonuclear Supernovae (NATO ASI), eds. R. Canal, P. Ruiz-LaPuente, and J. Isern:

I. Scheduled Discoveries of 7+ High-Redshift Supernovae: First Cosmology Results and Bounds on q_0 (Perlmutter et al.) [Postscript of text AND figures] [TeX][Figure 1][Figure 2][Figure 3][Figure 4][Figure 5][Figure 6]
II. K Corrections For Type Ia Supernovae and a Test for Spatial Variation of the Hubble Constant (Kim et al.) [Postscript of text AND figures] [TeX][Figure 1][Figure 2][Figure 3]
III. Observation of Cosmological Time Dilation using Type Ia Supernovae as Clocks (Goldhaber et al.) [Postscript of text AND figures] [TeX][Figure 1][Figure 2][Figure 3]
IV. The Type Ia Supernova Rate at z ~ 0.4 (Pain, Hook, et al.) [Postscript of text AND figures] [TeX][Figure 1][Figure 2][Figure 3]

Poster presented at the American Astronomical Society January 1996 Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

A Generalized K-correction for Type Ia Supernovae:... (Kim, Goobar, & Perlmutter, PASP, 108:190, 1996). [Postscript]

Feasibility of measuring the cosmological constant Lambda and mass density Omega using Type Ia supernovae (Goobar & Perlmutter, Ap.J., 450:14, 1995). [Postscript of text AND figures] [TeX][Figure 1] [Figure 2] [Figure 3] [Figure 4]

Supernova at z=0.458 ... (Perlmutter et al, Ap.J.Lett., 440:L41, 1995) [Postscript of text AND figures] [TeX][Figure 1][Figure 2][Figure 3]

SCP Collaboration

Saul Perlmutter, PI and spokesperson

Gersonfest! A celebration honoring Gerson Goldhaber's 80th birthday. Feb 21, 2004

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

LPNHE : CNRS-IN2P3 and Universités Paris VI and Paris VII , Paris, France

IPNL : CNRS-IN2P3 and Université Lyon I , Villeurbanne, France

University of Stockholm

Vanderbilt University

University of Oxford

European Southern Observatory

University of Tokyo

California Institute of Technology

Space Telescope Science Institute

Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge

Isaac Newton Group, La Palma

University of Barcelona

Colorado College

LBNL Supernova Cosmology Group

Greg Aldering
Alex Conley (now at U. of Toronto)
Rachel Gibbons
Gerson Goldhaber
Ariel Goobar (now at U. of Stockholm)
Don Groom
Isobel Hook (now with Oxford Univ./Gemini)
Alex Kim (now with SNAP)
Rob Knop (now at Vanderbilt University)
Peter Nugent
Reynald Pain (now at LPNHE, Paris)
Saul Perlmutter (UC Berkeley and LBNL, SCP Group leader)
Carl Pennypacker
Tony Spadafora
Michael Wood-Vasey(now at Harvard)

Miscellaneous

Temporary HOU image directory
Directory of miscellaneous info. not yet indexed in this home page

For questions or comments, contact:

Saul Perlmutter (saul@lbl.gov)

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory 50-232

University of California

Berkeley, CA 94720

Phone: (510) 486-5203

Fax: (510) 486-5401

High Redshift Supernova Search Supernova Cosmology Project