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As part of an on-going effort to identify, understand and correct for astrophysics biases in the standardization of Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) for cosmology, we have statistically classified a large sample of nearby SNe Ia into those that are located in predominantly younger or older environments. This classification is based on the specific star formation rate measured within a projected distance of 1 kpc from each SN location (LsSFR). This is an important refinement compared to using the local star formation rate directly, as it provides a normalization for relative numbers of available SN progenitors and is more robust against extinction by dust. We find that the SNe Ia in predominantly younger environments are ΔY = 0.163 ± 0.029 mag (5.7σ) fainter than those in predominantly older environments after conventional light-curve standardization. This is the strongest standardized SN Ia brightness systematic connected to the host-galaxy environment measured to date. The well-established step in standardized brightnesses between SNe Ia in hosts with lower or higher total stellar masses is smaller, at ΔM = 0.119 ± 0.032 mag (4.5σ), for the same set of SNe Ia. When fit simultaneously, the environment-age offset remains very significant, with ΔY = 0.129 ± 0.032 mag (4.0σ), while the global stellar mass step is reduced to ΔM = 0.064 ± 0.029 mag (2.2σ). Thus, approximately 70% of the variance from the stellar mass step is due to an underlying dependence on environment-based progenitor age. Also, we verify that using the local star formation rate alone is not as powerful as LsSFR at sorting SNe Ia into brighter and fainter subsets. Standardization that only uses the SNe Ia in younger environments reduces the total dispersion from 0.142 ± 0.008 mag to 0.120 ± 0.010 mag. We show that as environment-ages evolve with redshift, a strong bias, especially on the measurement of the derivative of the dark energy equation of state, can develop. Fortunately, data that measure and correct for this effect using our local specific star formation rate indicator, are likely to be available for many next-generation SN Ia cosmology experiments.

As a candidate 'super-Chandrasekhar' or 09dc-like Type Ia supernova (SN Ia), SN 2012dn shares many characteristics with other members of this remarkable class of objects but lacks their extraordinary luminosity. Here, we present and discuss the most comprehensive optical data set of this SN to date, comprised of a densely sampled series of early-time spectra obtained within the Nearby Supernova Factory project, plus photometry and spectroscopy obtained at the Very Large Telescope about 1 yr after the explosion. The light curves, colour curves, spectral time series, and ejecta velocities of SN 2012dn are compared with those of other 09dc-like and normal SNe Ia, the overall variety within the class of 09dc-like SNe Ia is discussed, and new criteria for 09dc-likeness are proposed. Particular attention is directed to additional insight that the late-phase data provide. The nebular spectra show forbidden lines of oxygen and calcium, elements that are usually not seen in late-time spectra of SNe Ia, while the ionization state of the emitting iron plasma is low, pointing to low ejecta temperatures and high densities. The optical light curves are characterized by an enhanced fading starting ∼60 d after maximum and very low luminosities in the nebular phase, which is most readily explained by unusually early formation of clumpy dust in the ejecta. Taken together, these effects suggest a strongly perturbed ejecta density profile, which might lend support to the idea that 09dc-like characteristics arise from a brief episode of interaction with a hydrogen-deficient envelope during the first hours or days after the explosion.

SN Ia cosmology depends on the ability to fit and standardize observations of supernova magnitudes with an empirical model. We present here a series of new models of SN Ia spectral time series that capture a greater amount of supernova diversity than is possible with the models that are currently customary. These are entitled SuperNova Empirical MOdels (SNEMO; https://snfactory.lbl.gov/snemo). The models are constructed using spectrophotometric time series from 172 individual supernovae from the Nearby Supernova Factory, comprising more than 2000 spectra. Using the available observations, Gaussian processes are used to predict a full spectral time series for each supernova. A matrix is constructed from the spectral time series of all the supernovae, and Expectation Maximization Factor Analysis is used to calculate the principal components of the data. K-fold cross-validation then determines the selection of model parameters and accounts for color variation in the data. Based on this process, the final models are trained on supernovae that have been dereddened using the Fitzpatrick and Massa extinction relation. Three final models are presented here: SNEMO2, a two-component model for comparison with current Type Ia models; SNEMO7, a seven-component model chosen for standardizing supernova magnitudes, which results in a total dispersion of 0.100 mag for a validation set of supernovae, of which 0.087 mag is unexplained (a total dispersion of 0.113 mag with an unexplained dispersion of 0.097 mag is found for the total set of training and validation supernovae); and SNEMO15, a comprehensive 15-component model that maximizes the amount of spectral time-series behavior captured.

Context. Observations of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) can be used to derive accurate cosmological distances through empirical standardization techniques. Despite this success neither the progenitors of SNe Ia nor the explosion process are fully understood. The U-band region has been less well observed for nearby SNe, due to technical challenges, but is the most readily accessible band for high-redshift SNe. Aims. Using spectrophotometry from the Nearby Supernova Factory, we study the origin and extent of U-band spectroscopic variations in SNe Ia and explore consequences for their standardization and the potential for providing new insights into the explosion process. Methods. We divide the U-band spectrum into four wavelength regions λ(uNi), λ(uTi), λ(uSi) and λ(uCa). Two of these span the Ca H&K λλ 3934, 3969 complex. We employ spectral synthesis using SYNAPPS to associate the two bluer regions with Ni/Co and Ti. Results. The flux of the uTi feature is an extremely sensitive temperature/luminosity indicator, standardizing the SN peak luminosity to 0.116 ± 0.011 mag root mean square (RMS). A traditional SALT2.4 fit on the same sample yields a 0.135 mag RMS. Standardization using uTi also reduces the difference in corrected magnitude between SNe originating from different host galaxy environments. Early U-band spectra can be used to probe the Ni+Co distribution in the ejecta, thus offering a rare window into the source of light curve power. The uCa flux further improves standardization, yielding a 0.086 ± 0.010 mag RMS without the need to include an additional intrinsic dispersion to reach χ2/dof ∼ 1. This reduction in RMS is partially driven by an improved standardization of Shallow Silicon and 91T-like SNe.

Context. Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are widely used to measure the expansion of the Universe. To perform such measurements the luminosity and cosmological redshift (z) of the SNe Ia have to be determined. The uncertainty on z includes an unknown peculiar velocity, which can be very large for SNe Ia in the virialized cores of massive clusters. Aims. We determine which SNe Ia exploded in galaxy clusters using 145 SNe Ia from the Nearby Supernova Factory. We then study how the correction for peculiar velocities of host galaxies inside the clusters improves the Hubble residuals. Methods. We found 11 candidates for membership in clusters. We applied the biweight technique to estimate the redshift of a cluster. Then, we used the galaxy cluster redshift instead of the host galaxy redshift to construct the Hubble diagram. Results. For SNe Ia inside galaxy clusters, the dispersion around the Hubble diagram when peculiar velocities are taken into account is smaller compared with a case without peculiar velocity correction, which has a wRMS = 0.130 ± 0.038 mag instead of wRMS = 0.137 ± 0.036 mag. The significance of this improvement is 3.58σ. If we remove the very nearby Virgo cluster member SN2006X (z < 0.01) from the analysis, the significance decreases to 1.34σ. The peculiar velocity correction is found to be highest for the SNe Ia hosted by blue spiral galaxies. Those SNe Ia have high local specific star formation rates and smaller stellar masses, which is seemingly counter to what might be expected given the heavy concentration of old, massive elliptical galaxies in clusters. Conclusions. As expected, the Hubble residuals of SNe Ia associated with massive galaxy clusters improve when the cluster redshift is taken as the cosmological redshift of the supernova. This fact has to be taken into account in future cosmological analyses in order to achieve higher accuracy for cosmological redshift measurements. We provide an approach to do so.

Aims. The scientific yield of current and future optical surveys is increasingly limited by systematic uncertainties in the flux calibration. This is the case for type Ia supernova (SN Ia) cosmology programs, where an improved calibration directly translates into improved cosmological constraints. Current methodology rests on models of stars. Here we aim to obtain flux calibration that is traceable to state-of-the-art detector-based calibration. Methods. We present the SNIFS Calibration Apparatus (SCALA), a color (relative) flux calibration system developed for the SuperNova integral field spectrograph (SNIFS), operating at the University of Hawaii 2.2 m (UH 88) telescope. Results. By comparing the color trend of the illumination generated by SCALA during two commissioning runs, and to previous laboratory measurements, we show that we can determine the light emitted by SCALA with a long-term repeatability better than 1%. We describe the calibration procedure necessary to control for system aging. We present measurements of the SNIFS throughput as estimated by SCALA observations. Conclusions. The SCALA calibration unit is now fully deployed at the UH 88 telescope, and with it color-calibration between 4000 Å and 9000 Å is stable at the percent level over a one-year baseline.

Correcting Type Ia Supernova brightnesses for extinction by dust has proven to be a vexing problem. Here we study the dust foreground to the highly reddened SN 2012cu, which is projected onto a dust lane in the galaxy NGC 4772. The analysis is based on multi-epoch, spectrophotometric observations spanning from 3300-9200 Å, obtained by the Nearby Supernova Factory. Phase-matched comparison of the spectroscopically twinned SN 2012cu and SN 2011fe across 10 epochs results in the best-fit color excess of (E (B - V), RMS) = (1.00, 0.03) and total-to-selective extinction ratio of (RV, RMS) = (2.95, 0.08) toward SN 2012cu within its host galaxy. We further identify several diffuse interstellar bands and compare the 5780 Å band with the dust-to-band ratio for the Milky Way (MW). Overall, we find the foreground dust-extinction properties for SN 2012cu to be consistent with those of the MW. Furthermore, we find no evidence for significant time variation in any of these extinction tracers. We also compare the dust extinction curve models of Cardelli et al., ODonnell, and Fitzpatrick, and find the predictions of Fitzpatrick fit SN 2012cu the best. Finally, the distance to NGC4772, the host of SN 2012cu, at a redshift of z = 0.0035, often assigned to the Virgo Southern Extension, is determined to be 16.6 ± 1.1 Mpc. We compare this result with distance measurements in the literature.

We introduce a method for identifying "twin" Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and using them to improve distance measurements. This novel approach to SN Ia standardization is madeossible by spectrophotometric time series observations from the Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory). We begin with a well-measured set of SNe, findairs whose spectra match well across the entire optical window, and then test whether this leads to a smaller dispersion in their absolute brightnesses. This analysis is completed in a blinded fashion, ensuring that decisions made in implementing the method do not inadvertently bias the result. We find thatairs of SNe with more closely matched spectra indeed have reduced brightness dispersion. We are able to standardize this initial set of SNfactory SNe to 0.083 0.012 mag, implying a dispersion of 0.072 0.010 mag in the absence ofeculiar velocities. We estimate that with larger numbers of comparison SNe, e.g., using the final SNfactory spectrophotometric data set as a reference, this method will be capable of standardizing high-redshift SNe to within 0.06-0.07 mag. These results imply that at least 3/4 of the variance in Hubble residuals in current SN cosmology analyses is due toreviously unaccounted-for astrophysical differences among the SNe.