P. Wyatt

The Carnegie Supernova Project: Analysis of the First Sample of Low-Redshift Type-Ia Supernovae

An analysis of the first set of low-redshift (z < 0.08) Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) monitored by the Carnegie Supernova Project between 2004 and 2006 is presented. The data consist of well-sampled, high-precision optical (ugriBV) and near-infrared (NIR; YJHKs ) light curves in a well-understood photometric system. Methods are described for deriving light-curve parameters, and for building template light curves which are used to fit SN Ia data in the ugriBVYJH bands. The intrinsic colors at maximum light are calibrated using a subsample of supernovae (SNe) assumed to have suffered little or no reddening, enabling color excesses to be estimated for the full sample. The optical-NIR color excesses allow the properties of the reddening law in the host galaxies to be studied. A low average value of the total-to-selective absorption coefficient, RV 1.7, is derived when using the entire sample of SNe. However, when the two highly reddened SNe (SN 2005A and SN 2006X) in the sample are excluded, a value RV 3.2 is obtained, similar to the standard value for the Galaxy. The red colors of these two events are well matched by a model where multiple scattering of photons by circumstellar dust steepens the effective extinction law. The absolute peak magnitudes of the SNe are studied in all bands using a two-parameter linear fit to the decline rates and the colors at maximum light, or alternatively, the color excesses. In both cases, similar results are obtained with dispersions in absolute magnitudes of 0.12-0.16?mag, depending on the specific filter-color combination. In contrast to the results obtained from the comparison of the color excesses, these fits of absolute magnitude give RV 1-2 when the dispersion is minimized, even when the two highly reddened SNe are excluded. This discrepancy suggests that, beyond the normal interstellar reddening produced in the host galaxies, there is an intrinsic dispersion in the colors of SNe Ia which is correlated with luminosity but independent of the decline rate. Finally, a Hubble diagram for the best-observed subsample of SNe is produced by combining the results of the fits of absolute magnitude versus decline rate and color excess for each filter. The resulting scatter of 0.12 mag appears to be limited by the peculiar velocities of the host galaxies as evidenced by the strong correlation between the distance-modulus residuals observed in the individual filters. The implication is that the actual precision of SNe Ia distances is 3%-4%.

The Carnegie Supernova Project: The Low-Redshift Survey

Supernovae are essential to understanding the chemical evolution of the universe. Type Ia supernovae also provide the most powerful observational tool currently available for studying the expansion history of the universe and the nature of dark energy. Our basic knowledge of supernovae comes from the study of their photometric and spectroscopic properties. However, the presently available data sets of optical and near- infrared light curves of supernovae are rather small and/or heterogeneous, and employ photometric systems that are poorly characterized. Similarly, there are relatively few supernovae whose spectral evolution has been well sampled, both in wavelength and phase, with precise spectrophotometric observations. The low-redshift portion of the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) seeks to remedy this situation by providing photometry and spectrophotometry of a large sample of supernovae taken on telescope/filter/detector systems that are well understood and well characterized. During a 5 year program that began in 2004 September, we expect to obtain high-precision ugriBVYJHKs light curves and optical spectrophotometry for about 250 supernovae of all types. In this paper we provide a detailed description of the CSP survey observing and data reduction methodology. In addition, we present preliminary photometry and spectra obtained for a few representative supernovae during the first observing campaign.

The Peculiar SN 2005hk: Do Some Type Ia Supernovae Explode as Deflagrations?

ABSTRACT We present extensive \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape

The NASA Exoplanet Archive: Data and Tools for Exoplanet Research

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The J-Band Light Curve of SN 2003lw, Associated with GRB 031203

\end{document} photometry and optical spectroscopy of the Type Ia supernova (SN) 2005hk. These data reveal that SN 2005hk was nearly identical in its observed properties to SN 2002cx, which has been called “the most peculiar known Type Ia supernova.” Both supernovae exhibited high‐ionization SN 1991T–like premaximum spectra, yet low peak luminosities like that of SN 1991bg. The spectra reveal th...

TERMS PHOTOMETRY OF KNOWN TRANSITING EXOPLANETS

ABSTRACT.We describe the contents and functionality of the NASA Exoplanet Archive, a database and toolset funded by NASA to support astronomers in the exoplanet community. The current content of the database includes interactive tables containing properties of all published exoplanets, Kepler planet candidates, threshold-crossing events, data validation reports and target stellar parameters, light curves from the Kepler and CoRoT missions and from several ground-based surveys, and spectra and radial velocity measurements from the literature. Tools provided to work with these data include a transit ephemeris predictor, both for single planets and for observing locations, light curve viewing and normalization utilities, and a periodogram and phased light curve service. The archive can be accessed at http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu.

Accurate Coordinates and 2MASS Cross Identifications for (Almost) All Gliese Catalog Star

At z = 0.1055, the gamma-ray burst GRB 031203 is the second nearest GRB known. Using observations from the Very Large Array and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, we derive subarcsecond localizations of the radio and X-ray afterglow of this GRB. We present near-infrared observations of the supernova SN 2003lw, which exploded in the host galaxy of GRB 031203. Our deep high-resolution Magellan data establish that this SN is spatially coincident with the radio and X-ray localizations of the afterglow of GRB 031203 to subarcsecond precision and is thus firmly associated with the GRB. We use image differencing to subtract the bright emission from the host galaxy and measure the SN flux at ~5, ~7, and ~50 days after the GRB. Our J-band measurements are inconsistent with predictions derived by placing SN 1998bw (associated with GRB 980425) at z = 0.1055. In particular, our early data points show that before peak, SN 2003lw was significantly fainter in rest frame ~1.13 μm (observed J band) than SN 1998bw. We measure similar fluxes at ~7 and ~50 days after the GRB, suggesting that SN 2003lw had a light-curve shape that is quite different from that of SN 1998bw, the best-studied GRB-associated SN so far.

The NStED Exoplanet Transit Survey Service

The Transit Ephemeris Refinement and Monitoring Survey conducts radial velocity and photometric monitoring of known exoplanets in order to refine planetary orbits and predictions of possible transit times. This effort is primarily directed toward planets not known to transit, but a small sample of our targets consists of known transiting systems. Here we present precision photometry for six WASP (Wide Angle Search for Planets) planets acquired during their transit windows. We perform a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis for each planet and combine these data with previous measurements to redetermine the period and ephemerides for these planets. These observations provide recent mid-transit times which are useful for scheduling future observations. Our results improve the ephemerides of WASP-4b, WASP-5b, and WASP-6b and reduce the uncertainties on the mid-transit time for WASP-29b. We also confirm the orbital, stellar, and planetary parameters of all six systems.

The NASA/IPAC/NExScI Star And Exoplanet Database

We provide precise J2000, epoch 2000 coordinates, and cross-identifications to sources in the 2MASS Point Source Catalog for nearly all stars in the Gliese, Gliese-Jahreiss, and Woolley catalogs of nearby stars. The only Gliese objects where we were not successful are two Gliese sources that are actually QSOs; two proposed companions to brighter stars, which we believe do not exist; four stars included in one of the catalogs but identified there as only optical companions; one probable plate flaw; and two stars that simply remain unrecovered. For the 4251 recovered stars, 2693 have coordinates based on Hipparcos positions, 1549 have coordinates based on 2MASS data, and 9 have positions from other astrometric sources. All positions have been calculated at epoch 2000 using proper motions from the literature, which are also given here.

The LAEX and NASA portals for CoRoT public data

The NASA Star and Exoplanet Database (NStED) is a general purpose stellar archive with the aim of providing support for NASAs planet finding and characterization goals, stellar astrophysics, and the planning of NASA and other space missions. There are two principal components of NStED: a database of (currently) 140,000 nearby stars and exoplanet-hosting stars, and an archive dedicated to high-precision photometric surveys for transiting exoplanets. We present a summary of the latter component: the NStED Exoplanet Transit Survey Service (NStED-ETSS), along with its content, functionality, tools, and user interface. NStED-ETSS currently serves data from the TrES Survey of the Kepler Field as well as dedicated photometric surveys of four stellar clusters. NStED-ETSS aims to serve both the surveys and the broader astronomical community by archiving these data and making them available in a homogeneous format. Examples of usability of ETSS include investigation of any time-variable phenomena in data sets not studied by the original survey team, application of different techniques or algorithms for planet transit detections, combination of data from different surveys for given objects, statistical studies, etc. NStED-ETSS can be accessed at \tt{this http URL}