The Fall 2004 SDSS Supernova Survey

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0504455

From: Masao Sako [view email]

Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 20:34:03 GMT   (301kb)

In preparation for the Supernova Survey of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(SDSS) II, a proposed 3-year extension to the SDSS, we have conducted an early
engineering and science run during the fall of 2004, which consisted of
approximately 20 scheduled nights of repeated imaging of half of the southern
equatorial stripe. Transient supernova-like events were detected in near
real-time and photometric measurements were made in the five SDSS filter
bandpasses with a cadence of ~2 days. Candidate type Ia supernovae (SNe) were
pre-selected based on their colors, light curve shape, and the properties of
the host galaxy. Follow-up spectroscopic observations were performed with the
Astrophysical Research Consortium 3.5m telescope and the 9.2m Hobby-Eberly
Telescope to confirm their types and measure the redshifts. The 2004 campaign
resulted in 22 spectroscopically confirmed SNe, which includes 16 type Ia, 5
type II, and 1 type Ib/c. These SN Ia will help fill in the sparsely sampled
redshift interval of z = 0.05 – 0.35, the so-called ‘redshift desert’, in the
Hubble diagram. Detailed investigation of the spectral properties of these
moderate-redshift SNe Ia will also provide a bridge between local SNe and
high-redshift objects, and will help us understand the systematics for future
cosmological applications that require high photometric precision. Finally, the
large survey volume also provides the opportunity to select unusual supernovae
for spectroscopic study that are poorly sampled in other surveys. We report on
some of the early results from this program and discuss potential future
applications.

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