Observations and Theory of Supernovae

0406740PI惠勒德克萨斯州超新星小组是独一无二的，它专注于不对称超新星的观测和理论。 他们正在继续探索Ia型超新星与光学和近红外光谱和光学分光偏振的目标是更好地了解祖先的演变，爆炸物理，以及这些超新星的能力，以促进准确的宇宙学测量。可能与这些天体的双星性质有关的证据已经开始了超新星研究的一个新的分支，以确定超新星的光球何时变成球形，并更好地理解由于超新星极大值附近的非球面效应而导致的天体之间的光度和颜色的分散。他们正在探索恒星核心坍缩的本质，特别是用分光偏振法探测爆炸中的不对称性。决定核心坍缩超新星物理性质的一个关键因素是不同成分的喷出物部分的几何形状。这是通过仔细的分光偏振测定法确定的。 正在测试产生双极和更复杂流动的核心坍塌的动力学模型，以确定爆炸中的基本不对称程度，这种不对称程度是在喷出物的不同化学层中留下不同极化所必需的。 他们参与使用机器人光学瞬变源实验望远镜阵列研究伽马射线暴、超新星及其联系。更广泛的影响：这项工作通过推进发现和理解，将研究和教育结合起来，同时教育研究生和培训博士后研究人员。PI教授一门关于超新星研究的研究生课程，其中包括许多正在进行的发展。此外，PI长期以来一直将最新的研究进展纳入非科学专业的大班，这些班级在性别，种族，残疾和地理方面本质上是多样化的。 PI还经常在科普文学中发表文章，他的作品在麦克唐纳天文台的新双语德克萨斯天文教育中心中展出。 研究所还努力加强研究基础设施，将超新星和伽马射线爆发的研究纳入天体生物学范畴。

0406740PI WheelerThe Texas supernova group is unique in its focus on both the observations and theory of asymmetric supernovae. They are continuing to explore Type Ia supernovae with optical and near infrared spectroscopy and optical spectropolarimetry with the goal of better understanding the progenitor evolution, the explosion physics, and the capacity of these supernovae to facilitate accurate cosmological measurements. Evidence possibly related to the binary nature of these objects has started a new branch of supernovae research to determine when the photospheres of supernovae become spherical and to better understand the dispersion in luminosity and color between objects due to effects of asphericity near supernova maximum. They are exploring the nature of the collapse of the stellar core, specifically probing asymmetries in the explosion with spectropolarimetry. One key factor in determining the physical nature of core collapse supernovae is the geometry of portions of the ejecta of different composition. This is determined by careful spectropolarimetry. Dynamical models of core collapse that generate bipolar and more complex flows are being tested to determine the degree of fundamental asymmetry in the explosion necessary to imprint different polarization in different chemical layers of the ejecta. They participate in the use of the Robotic Optical Transient Source Experiment telescope array to study gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, and their connection.Broader Impact: This work integrates research and education by advancing discovery and understanding, while at the same time educating graduate students and training postdoctoral researchers. The PI teaches a graduate course on supernova research that includes as active components many of the developments underway. In addition, the PI has long made it a practice to incorporate recent research developments into large classes for non-science majors, classes that are intrinsically diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, disability, and geography. The PI also frequently publishes in the popular science literature and his work is featured in the new bilingual Texas Astronomy Education Center at McDonald Observatory. The PI has also worked to enhance the infrastructure of research by incorporating research on supernovae and gamma-ray bursts into an astrobiological context.