B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI), SEEDS Collaboration
It has long been hypothesised that supernovae (SNe) are a major source of dust in the Universe, an assumption which has gained support with the discovery that many of the earliest-formed galaxies are extremely dusty and IR-luminous, as evidenced by the efficient detection of their redshifted dust emission at submillimeter wavelengths. We are now carrying out a sensitive mid-IR Survey for Evolution of Emission from Dust in SNe (SEEDS, PI: M.\ Barlow) to address the extent to which they produce dust, and whether they are a primary source of dust in the Universe. We present {\em Spitzer} observations of young, nearby SNe, including 1999bw, 2002hh, 2004dh, and 2004et. Implications for dust formation versus emission from pre-existing circumstellar dust are discussed.
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #2
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.