Program: GN-2024B-FT-208

One of the most enduring problems in astrophysics is that of the origin of type Ia supernovae (SNIa). We will use Gemini GMOS to observe a short-period Double White Dwarf (DWD) binary candidate which is a potential SNIa progenitor. The target is selected from the ongoing fifth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and shows statistically significant radial velocity (RV) variations. Using high sensitivity, high resolution Gemini GMOS observations, we will definitively determine the period of this source and therefore measure the mass function and the minimal mass of the companion. We will carefully model the high signal-to-noise spectra we will obtain with Gemini to look for the photospheric signatures of the companion and to therefore fully solve for the mass and orbital parameters. If the period is within about 10 hours, then this object will merge within the Hubble time, and if it is massive enough, the merger would lead to SNIa explosion. This program has the potential to yield the first unambiguous representative of the long-sought double-degenerate channel for the SNIa production.