Program: GS-2018A-Q-315

Title:A Deeper Physical Understanding of Thermonuclear Supernovae with Nebular-Phase Spectra
PI:Melissa L. Graham
Co-I(s): David J. Sand, Griffin Hosseinzadeh, Sahana Kumar, K. Azalee Bostroem, Maryam Modjaz, Dan Kasen, Craig Wheeler, Curtis McCully, D. Andrew Howell, Eric Hsiao, Stefano Valenti, Iair Arcavi, Saurabh Jha, Janos Botyanszki

Abstract

We propose to obtain GMOS imaging and spectroscopy of four Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at late phases, when the material has become optically thin (nebular) and the spectrum reveals the composition and geometry in all regions of the ejecta. These data provide unique constraints on the nature of SN Ia progenitor stars and explosion mechanisms, but are only possible with an 8m class telescope like Gemini. We have chosen our targets to be SNe Ia that are most likely to return high-quality GMOS data and that will have high scientific value: all are low-redshift SNe Ia in regions of minimal surface brightness that have a well-sampled time-series of early-time spectra and photometry from the Las Cumbres Observatory.

Publications using this program's data