Superluminous Supernova Rates

• Project/Area Number: 24740118
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Astronomy
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: QUIMBY Robert Michael 東京大学, カブリ数物連携宇宙研究機構, 特任研究員 (10624140)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2013)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000)
• Keywords: 高輝度超新星 / superluminous supernova / gravitationally lensed / identifying technique / 光学赤外線天文学

Research Abstract

Superluminous supernovae are a rare group of objects that have peak luminosities hundreds of times brighter than normal supernovae. They have only been discovered recently, and much is still unknown about their origin. However, their high luminosities make them potentially useful targets for probing the high redshift universe. Through this proposal, we have published the first measurement of the local superluminous supernova rate. This provides an important constraint on the nature of the progenitor systems. We further reclassified an object that was identified by others as a new type of superluminous supernova. We found that the object is actually the first Type Ia supernova seen through a strong gravitational lens, and we published a new technique for identifying more such objects in the future. In the future, such strongly lensed Type Ia supernovae can be used to make direct measurements of the Hubble parameter.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Detection of the Gravitational Lens Magnifying a Type Ia Supernova (2014)
  • Author(s): Robert M. Quimby, Masamune Oguri, Anupreeta More, Surhud More, Takashi J. Moriya, Marcus C. Werner, Masayuki Tanaka, Gaston Folatelli, Melina C. Bersten, Keiichi Maeda, Ken'ichi Nomoto
  • Journal Title: Science Volume: 344 Pages: 396-399
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Properties of Newly Formed Dust Grains in the Luminous Type IIn Supernova 2010jl (2013)
  • Author(s): Maeda, K.; Nozawa, T.; Sahu, D. K.; Minowa, Y.; Motohara, K.; Ueno, I.; Folatelli, G.; Pyo, T.‐S.; Kitagawa, Y.; Kawabata, K. S.; Anupama, G. C.; Kozasa, T.; Moriya, T. J.; Yamanaka, M.; Nomoto, K.; Bersten, M.; Quimby, R.; Iye, M.
  • Journal Title: Astrophysical Journal Volume: 776 Pages: 5-5
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Extraordinary Magnification of the Ordinary Type Ia Supernova PS1-10afx (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.; Werner, Marcus C.; Oguri, Masamune; More, Surhud; More, Anupreeta; Tanaka, Masayuki; Nomoto, Ken'ichi; Moriya, Takashi J.; Folatelli, Gaston; Maeda, Keiichi; Bersten, Melina
  • Volume: 768
  • Pages: 20-25
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Rates of superluminous supernovae at z ~ 0.2 (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.; Yuan, Fang; Akerlof, Carl; Wheeler, J. Craig
  • Journal Title: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Volume: 431 Pages: 912-922
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Extraordinary Magnification of the Ordinary Type Ia Supernova PS1-10afx (2013)
  • Author(s): R. M. Quimby, M. C. Werner, M. Oguri, S. More, A. More, M. Tanaka, K. Nomoto, T. J. Moriya, G. Folatelli, K. Maeda, M. Bersten
  • Journal Title: The Astrophysical Journal Letters Volume: 768 Issue: 1 Pages: 20-25
  • DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/768/1/l20
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Properties of Newly Formed Dust Grains in the Luminous Type IIn Supernova 2010jl (2013)
  • Author(s): K. Maeda, T. Nozawa, D. K. Sahu, Y. Minowa, K. Motohara, I. Ueno, G. Folatelli, T. -S. Pyo, Y. Kitagawa, K. S. Kawabata, G. C. Anupama, T. Kozasa, T. J. Moriya, M. Yamanaka, K. Nomoto, M. Bersten, R. Quimby, M. Iye
  • Journal Title: The Astrophysical Journal Volume: 776 Issue: 1 Pages: 5-5
  • DOI: 10.1088/0004-637x/776/1/5
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Rates of superluminous supernovae at z ˜ 0.2 (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.; Yuan, Fang; Akerlof, Carl; Wheeler, J. Craig
  • Journal Title: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Volume: 431 Issue: 1 Pages: 912-922
  • DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stt213
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] On the Rates of Type Ia Supernovae in Dwarf and Giant Hosts with ROTSE-IIIb (2012)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.; Yuan, Fang; Akerlof, Carl; Wheeler, J. Craig; Warren, Michael S.
  • Journal Title: Astronomical Journal Volume: 144 Pages: 177-193
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] Discovery of a Gravitationally Lensed Type Ia Supernova (2014)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: すばるユーザーズミーティングFY2013
  • Place of Presentation: 国立天文台(東京都三鷹市)
  • Year and Date: 2014-01-23
• [Presentation] Discovery of Gravitationally Lensed Type Ia Supernova (2014)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M
  • Organizer: American Astronomical Society Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: 米国・ワシントン特別行政区
  • Year and Date: 2014-01-08
• [Presentation] Discovery of a Gravitationally Lensed Type Ia Supernova (2014)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: American Astronomical Society Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: Washington DC, USA
• [Presentation] Discovery of a Gravitationally Lensed Type Ia Supernova (2014)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: Subaru Users Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: NAOJ
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M
  • Organizer: WISH Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: 国立天文台(東京都三鷹市)
  • Year and Date: 2013-12-02
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M
  • Organizer: iPTF Workshop
  • Place of Presentation: 米国・カリフォルニア州パサデナ
  • Year and Date: 2013-08-13
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M
  • Organizer: Cook's Branch Astronomy Workshop
  • Place of Presentation: 米国・テキサス州
  • Year and Date: 2013-04-08
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M
  • Organizer: IAU Symposium 296
  • Place of Presentation: インド・ライチャック
  • Year and Date: 2013-01-08
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: Cook's Branch Astronomy Workshop
  • Place of Presentation: Cook's Branch, Texas, USA
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: iPTF Workshop
  • Place of Presentation: Pasadena, California, USA
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: WISH Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: NAOJ
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2013)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: IAU Symposium 296
  • Place of Presentation: Raichak, India
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2012)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M
  • Organizer: Palomar Transient Factory Team Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: 米国・カリフォルニア州サンタバーバラ
  • Year and Date: 2012-07-06
• [Presentation] Superluminous Supernovae (2012)
  • Author(s): Quimby, Robert M.
  • Organizer: Palomar Transient Factory Team Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: Santa Barbara, USA
  • Invited
• [Remarks]
  • URL: http://member.ipmu.jp/robert.quimby/
• [Remarks] メディアによる報道 NHK;和文
  • URL: http://www9.nhk.or.jp/kabun-blog/200/186345.html
• [Remarks] メディアによる報道 共同通信;和文
  • URL: http://www.47news.jp/CN/201404/CN2014042401001852.html
• [Remarks] メディアによる報道 BBC;英文
  • URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27118405
• [Remarks] メディアによる報道 ナショナルジオグラフィック;英文
  • URL: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140424-superbright-supernova-gravitationallens-science/
• [Remarks] メディアによる報道 Space.com;英文
  • URL: http://www.space.com/25617-bright-supernova-mystery-cosmic-lens.html