Prospective Type Ia Supernova Surveys From Dome A

TL;DR

Dome A's unique Antarctic location enables extensive Type Ia supernova surveys, improving cosmological measurements by providing detailed low-redshift data and extending observations to higher redshifts with larger telescopes.

Contribution

This paper proposes a comprehensive plan for supernova surveys from Dome A, highlighting its potential for high-quality, wide-redshift supernova observations to advance cosmology.

Findings

Potential to observe ~1000 supernovae at z<0.08 over five years

Capability of discovering supernovae up to z~3 with >4-m telescopes

Enhanced understanding of supernova luminosity and heterogeneity relationships

Abstract

Dome A, the highest plateau in Antarctica, is being developed as a site for an astronomical observatory. The planned telescopes and instrumentation and the unique site characteristics are conducive toward Type Ia supernova surveys for cosmology. A self-contained search and survey over five years can yield a spectro-photometric time series of ~1000 z<0.08 supernovae. These can serve to anchor the Hubble diagram and quantify the relationship between luminosities and heterogeneities within the Type Ia supernova class, reducing systematics. Larger aperture (>4-m) telescopes are capable of discovering supernovae shortly after explosion out to z~3. These can be fed to space telescopes, and can isolate systematics and extend the redshift range over which we measure the expansion history of the universe.