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History of Supernovae as Distance Indicators

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Abstract

Supernovae (SNe) have been used to measure cosmological distances throughout modern astrophysics. The large luminosity and a relatively uniform appearance have made them primary distance indicators and placed them in a leading role in cosmology. They have contributed to three revolutions in cosmic world views: the historical supernovae SN 1572 and SN 1604 were recognized as coming from beyond the planetary spheres, the projected overdensity of (super)novae on nebulae hinted at the extragalactic nature of galaxies, and the mapping of the cosmic expansion rate through type Ia supernovae led to the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe and dark energy. This chapter traces these three paradigm shifts and describes the steps needed to make supernovae the precise cosmological tool they are today. We outline several of the methods and describe the basic assumptions. Supernovae have played a very critical role in the measurement of the Hubble constant and this chapter gives an account leading up to the current value for H0. Today, supernovae provide individual extragalactic distances with an accuracy unmatched by any other method.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the DFG Cluster of Excellence “Origin and Structure of the Universe.” I would also like to acknowledge the support of the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft through the TransRegio project TRR33 “The Dark Universe.”

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  1. European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748, Garching, Germany

    Bruno Leibundgut

  2. Excellence Cluster Universe, Technical University München, Garching, Germany

    Bruno Leibundgut

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  1. University of London Observatory, Mill Hill, United Kingdom

    Athem W. Alsabti

  2. Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Paul Murdin

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Leibundgut, B. (2017). History of Supernovae as Distance Indicators. In: Alsabti, A., Murdin, P. (eds) Handbook of Supernovae. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20794-0_99-2

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  1. Latest

    History of Supernovae as Distance Indicators
    Published:
    25 January 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20794-0_99-2

  2. Original

    History of Supernovae as Distance Indicators
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    11 November 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20794-0_99-1

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