All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae: Big Science with Small Telescopes

即使在今天，只有人类的眼睛监视整个夜空。 目前还没有一种光学测量方法能够频繁地对整个天球进行成像和记录，以找出我们宇宙中发生的短暂、可变、有时甚至是剧烈的事件。 “超新星全天自动巡天”（ASAS-SN）将每隔一晚自动巡天整个可见天空。ASAS-SN已经有了源源不断的重要发现。ASAS-SN还将为下一代时域天文学家提供一个重要的培训基地，这一领域最终将被大型综合巡天望远镜所改变。该计划的主要科学目标是显着提高我们对超新星的理解，包括核心坍缩和热核。该团队将完成对明亮的附近超新星的无偏见普查，他们将详细研究这些事件及其宿主。ASAS-SN目前发现了超过50%的明亮（17等）SNe，并恢复了其余的大部分。在这次高节奏调查中发现的明亮和邻近的SNe特别有价值，因为它们和它们的宿主星系很容易使用小型（1- 2米）望远镜进行研究。ASAS-SN应导致新的，无偏见的推导超新星率和更好地了解超新星属性作为恒星年龄和金属丰度的函数。这项调查将公开发布数据，包括一个临时列表，刚刚发布的“ASAS-SN CV Patrol”，以及未来的“ASAS-SN Patrol”，持续更新其他有趣类别的物体的光变曲线。全天变星星表也将逐步公布。

Even in the present day, only human eyes monitor the entire night sky. There is no optical survey that frequently images and records the entire celestial sphere, seeking out the transient, variable, and sometimes violent events that occur in our Universe. The "All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae" (ASAS-SN) will automatically survey the entire visible sky every other night. ASAS-SN is already producing a steady stream of important discoveries. ASAS-SN will also provide a critical training ground for the next generation of time-domain astronomers, a field that will eventually be transformed by the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.The major scientific goal of this proposal is to significantly enhance our understanding of supernovae, both core-collapse and thermonuclear. This team will complete an unbiased census of bright, nearby supernovae, and they will study these events and their hosts in detail. ASAS-SN is currently making more than 50% of all the bright (17 mag) SNe discoveries and recovering most of the rest. Bright and nearby SNe, discovered early by this high-cadence survey, are especially valuable, as they and their host galaxies are easy to study using small (1-2m) telescopes. ASAS-SN should lead to new, unbiased derivations of supernova rates and a better understanding of supernova properties as a function of stellar age and metallicity. This survey will be publicly releasing data, already including a transient list, just released "ASAS-SN CV Patrol", and future "ASAS-SN Patrols" of continuously updated light curves for other interesting classes of objects. All-sky catalogues of variable stars will be gradually released as well.