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P.A. Pinto (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona), C.R. Smith (National Optical Astronomy Observatory), P.M. Garnavich (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Because of its rapid observing cadence and large aperture, the LSST presents an ideal tool for studying type Ia supernovae and exploiting them as cosmological tools to redshifts near unity. We present a series of simulations of an observing program which would use the LSST in a different mode from it usual cadence. It would use a small fraction of each night to do a deep supernova search in a ``staring mode," with 10-20 minutes total exposure per day on each of several ten-square-degree fields. Assuming no evolution in the type Ia supernova rate, a year-long campaign will yield close to 2000 supernovae in each field with a mean redshift near 0.75, with 60-100 photometric points per lightcurve in five photometric bands. We discuss the use of this dataset for constraining the dark energy equation of state and especially any variation it might have with direction on the sky.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.