The CHilean Automatic Supernova sEarch (CHASE)

TL;DR

The CHASE project automates supernova discovery and follow-up in the southern hemisphere, providing timely light curves and enabling rapid response to interesting events, thus enhancing supernova research capabilities.

Contribution

This paper introduces the CHASE project, a fully automated system for discovering and monitoring supernovae in the southern sky, with a high discovery rate and real-time data processing.

Findings

Discovered 33 supernovae with an average of 2.5 per month in 2008

Implemented real-time data reduction for immediate light curve analysis

Enabled rapid follow-up observations of interesting supernovae

Abstract

The CHASE project started in 2007 with the aim of providing young southern supernovae (SNe) to the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) and Millennium Center for Supernova Studies (MCSS) follow-up programs. So far CHASE has discovered 33 SNe with an average of more than 2.5 SNe per month in 2008. In addition to the search we are carrying out a follow-up program targeting bright SNe. Our fully automated data reduction allows us to follow the evolution on the light curve in real time, triggering further observations if something potentially interesting is detected