# Astro2020 Science White Paper: Are Supernovae the Dust Producer in the Early Universe? **Authors:** Jeonghee Rho (SETI Institute), Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue, University), Arkaprabha Sarangi (NASA/GSFC), Raffaella Margutti (Northwestern, University), Ryan Chornock (Ohio University), Armin Rest (Space Telescope, Science Institute), Melissa Graham (University of Washington), J. Craig, Wheeler (University of Texas Austin), Darren DePoy, Lifan Wang, Jennifer, Marshall (Texas A&M University), Grant Williams (MMT Observatory), Rachel, Street (Las Cumbres Observatory), Warren Skidmore (TMT International, Observatory), Yan Haojing (University of Missouri-Columbia), Joshua Bloom, (University of California, Berkeley), Sumner Starrfield (Arizona State, University), Chien-Hsiu Lee (NOAO), Philip S. Cowperthwaite (Carnegie, Observatories), Guy S. Stringfellow (University of Colorado, Boulder), Deanne, Coppejans, Giacomo Terreran (Northwestern University), Niharika Sravan, (Purdue University), Thomas R. Geballe (Gemini Observatory), Aneurin Evans, (Keele University, UK), Howie Marion (University of Texas, Austin) arXiv: 1904.08485 ยท 2019-04-19 ## TL;DR This paper investigates whether supernovae are a primary source of dust in the early universe, especially in high-redshift galaxies, using upcoming observational capabilities of JWST, LSST, and the US-ELT. ## Contribution It provides an analysis of supernovae as potential early universe dust producers with a focus on future observational prospects. ## Key findings - Supernovae could significantly contribute to early universe dust. - Upcoming telescopes will enable detailed studies of supernova dust formation. - Understanding supernova dust production impacts models of galaxy evolution. ## Abstract Whether supernovae are a significant source of dust has been a long-standing debate. The large quantities of dust observed in high-redshift galaxies raise a fundamental question as to the origin of dust in the Universe since stars cannot have evolved to the AGB dust-producing phase in high-redshift galaxies. In contrast, supernovae occur within several millions of years after the onset of star formation. This white paper focuses on dust formation in supernova ejecta with US-Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) perspective during the era of JWST and LSST. --- Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1904.08485