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The discovery of a type Ia supernova at a redshift of 0.31

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Abstract

OBSERVATIONS indicate that nearby supernova of type Ia have similar peak brightnesses, with a spread of less than 0.3 mag (ref. 1), so that they can potentially be used as 'standard candles' to estimate distances on a cosmological scale. As part of a long-term search for distant supernovae, we have identified and studied an event that occurred in a faint member of the distant galaxy cluster AC118, at a redshift of z =0.31. Extensive photometry and some spectroscopy of the event strongly supports the hypothesis that we have detected a type Ia supernova whose time-dilated light curve matches that of present-day supernovae of this class. We discuss the precision to which its maximum brightness can be ascertained, and indicate the implications that such deep supernovae searches may have for observational cosmology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Danish Space Research Institute, Lundtoftevej 7, DK-2800, Lyngby, Denmark

    Hans U. Nørgaard-Nielsen

  2. Copenhagen University Observatory, Øster Voldgade 3, DK-1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Leif Hansen & Henning E. Jørgensen

  3. Physics Department, University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

    Alfonso Aragón Salamanca & Richard S. Ellis

  4. Anglo-Australian Observatory, Epping Laboratory, PO Box 296, Epping, New South Wales, 2121, Australia

    Warrick J. Couch

Authors
  1. Hans U. Nørgaard-Nielsen
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  2. Leif Hansen
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  3. Henning E. Jørgensen
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  4. Alfonso Aragón Salamanca
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  5. Richard S. Ellis
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  6. Warrick J. Couch
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Nørgaard-Nielsen, H., Hansen, L., Jørgensen, H. et al. The discovery of a type Ia supernova at a redshift of 0.31. Nature 339, 523–525 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339523a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/339523a0

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