The Lick Observatory Supernova Search, and Follow-Up Studies of Supernovae"
Alexei Filippenko, Univ. California-Berkeley
Abstract:
The Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) conducted with the 0.76-m Katzman
Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) has been by far the world's most successful
search for nearby supernovae, having discovered about 700 of them over the past
decade. The search and its results will be described. Preliminary LOSS
supernova rates as a function of host-galaxy Hubble type will be presented. As
an aside, KAIT's utility in rapidly obtaining follow-up observations of the
optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts will also be illustrated. Finally, some
follow-up studies of supernovae will be described, concentrating on two objects
having massive progenitors. The extremely powerful SN 2006gy is perhaps the
first pair-instability SN ever observed and could be a link to the first stars.
SN 2006jc is a peculiar Type Ib supernova that had a luminous outburst 2 years
before explosion and whose progenitor was probably a Wolf-Rayet star.