[180.06] Determining the Types and Redshifts of Supernova Spectra

AAS 207th Meeting, 8-12 January 2006
Session 180 Supernovae and Cosmology
Poster, Thursday, 9:20am-4:00pm, January 12, 2006, Exhibit Hall

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[180.06] Determining the Types and Redshifts of Supernova Spectra

S. Blondin (ESO, CfA), M. E. Salvo (RSAA, ANU), J. L. Tonry (IfA, Hawaii)

We present an algorithm used by members of the ESSENCE Team to identify the types of supernova spectra and determine their redshift. This algorithm, based on the correlation techniques of Tonry and Davis (1979), is implemented in the SuperNova IDentification code (SNID; Blondin et al., in prep). We show that this code can enable one to determine whether a noisy spectrum is more likely to be that of a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia), as opposed to other types (e.g., SN Ib/c). Furthermore, by comparing the correlation redshifts obtained using SNID with those determined from narrow emission/absorption lines in the supernova host galaxy, we show that accurate redshifts (with a typical error \sigma_z = 0.01) can be determined for SN Ia when a spectrum of the host galaxy is unavailable.

This work is partially supported by grant AST-0443378 from the US National Science Foundation.

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