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Predictive wavefront control is an important and rapidly developing field of adaptive optics (AO). Through the prediction of future wavefront effects, the inherent AO system servo-lag caused by the measurement, computation, and application of the wavefront correction can be significantly mitigated. This lag can impact the final delivered science image, including reduced strehl and contrast, and inhibits our ability to reliably use faint guidestars. We summarize here a novel method for training deep neural networks for predictive control based on an adversarial prior. Unlike previous methods in the literature, which have shown results based on previously generated data or for open-loop systems, we demonstrate our network's performance simulated in closed loop. Our models are able to both reduce effects induced by servo-lag and push the faint end of reliable control with natural guidestars, improving K-band Strehl performance compared to classical methods by over 55% for 16th magnitude guide stars on an 8-meter telescope. We further show that LSTM based approaches may be better suited in high-contrast scenarios where servo-lag error is most pronounced, while traditional feed forward models are better suited for high noise scenarios. Finally, we discuss future strategies for implementing our system in real-time and on astronomical telescope systems., Comment: 11 pages, 14 figures, Accepted to MNRAS

Absorption spectroscopy is widely used in sensing and astronomy to understand molecular compositions on microscopic to cosmological scales. However, typical dispersive spectroscopic techniques require multichannel detection, fundamentally limiting the ability to detect extremely weak signals when compared to direct photometric methods. We report the realization of direct spectral molecular detection using a silicon nanophotonic waveguide resonator, obviating dispersive spectral acquisition. We use a thermally tunable silicon ring resonator with a transmission spectrum matched and cross-correlated to the quasi-periodic vibronic absorption lines of hydrogen cyanide. We show that the correlation peak amplitude is proportional to the number of overlapping ring resonances and gas lines, and that molecular specificity is obtained from the phase of the correlation signal in a single detection channel. Our results demonstrate on-chip correlation spectroscopy that is less restricted by the signal-to-noise penalty of other spectroscopic approaches, enabling the detection of faint spectral signatures.

We present the design of integrated astrophotonic instruments for high background atmospheric gas detection. Such instruments can be fibre-coupled to long focal length space telescopes as compact, flexure-free, instruments., Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/Pacific Rim 2020, August 3-5, 2020, Sydney Australia

Absorption spectroscopy is a powerful technique for characterizing remote gas composition where direct interaction with a target it not possible. While dispersive spectroscopy is typically used to acquire a spectrum with which the gas presence is determined, correlation spectroscopy can directly detect such spectral features in a single detection channel. Here we present a novel integrated photonics correlation technique on an integrated photonic platform which uses real-time spectral processing to generate a multiline gas specific detection signal., 2020 Photonics North (PN), May 26-28, 2020, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada

MAPS, MMT Adaptive optics exoPlanet characterization System, is the upgrade of legacy 6.5m MMT adaptive optics system. It is an NSF MSIP-funded project that includes (i) refurbishing of the MMT Adaptive Secondary Mirror (ASM), (ii) new high sensitive and high spatial order visible and near-infrared pyramid wavefront sensors, and (iii) the upgrade of Arizona Infrared Imager and Echelle Spectrograph (ARIES) and MMT high Precision Imaging Polarimeter (MMTPol) science cameras. This paper will present the design and development of the visible pyramid wavefront sensor. This system consists of an acquisition camera, a fast-steering tip-tilt modulation mirror, a double pyramid, a pupil imaging triplet lens, and a low noise and high-speed frame rate based CCID75 camera. We will report on hardware and software and present the laboratory characterization results of the individual subsystems, and outline the on-sky commissioning plan., Comment: Fixed an author typo. SPIE, Adaptive Optics Systems VII, Proceedings Volume 11448, 114485J, Dec 14, 2020, See, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2576353

We present the first high-resolution map of the cold molecular gas distribution, as traced by CO(2-1) emission with ALMA, in a prominent ram pressure stripped tail. The Norma cluster galaxy ESO 137-001 is undergoing a strong interaction with the surrounding intra-cluster medium and is one of the nearest jellyfish galaxies with a long multi-phase tail. We have mapped the full extent of the tail at 1" (350 pc) angular resolution and found a rich distribution of mostly compact CO regions extending to nearly 60 kpc in length and 25 kpc in width. In total about 10^9 M_sun of molecular gas was detected. The CO features are found predominantly at the heads of numerous small-scale (~ 1.5 kpc) fireballs (i.e., star-forming clouds with linear streams of young stars extending toward the galaxy) but also of large-scale (~ 8 kpc) super-fireballs, and double-sided fireballs that have additional diffuse ionized gas tails extending in the direction opposite to the stellar tails. The new data help to shed light on the origin of the molecular tail - CO filaments oriented in the direction of the tail with only diffuse associated Halpha emission are likely young molecular features formed in situ, whereas other large CO features tilted with respect to the tail may have originated from the densest gas complexes that were pushed gradually away from the disk. The ALMA observations of ESO 137-001, together with observations from HST, Chandra and VLT/MUSE, offer the most complete view of a spectacular ram pressure stripped tail to date., Comment: submitted to ApJ (1. revision)

Using integral field spectroscopy, we demonstrate that gravity-sensitive absorption features in the zJ-band (0.9--1.35 \micron) can constrain the low-mass stellar initial mass function (IMF) in the cores of two elliptical galaxies, M85 and M87. Compared to the visible bands, the near-infrared (NIR) is more sensitive to light from low-mass dwarf stars, whose relative importance is the primary subject of the debate over IMF variations in nearby galaxies. Our analysis compares the observed spectra to the latest stellar population synthesis models by employing two different methods: equivalent widths and spectral fitting. We find that the IMF slopes in M85 are similar to the canonical Milky Way IMF with a median IMF-mismatch parameter $\alpha_{K} = 1.26$. In contrast, we find that the IMF in M87 is steeper than a Salpeter IMF with $\alpha_{K} = 2.77$. The derived stellar population parameters, including the IMF slopes, are consistent with those from recent results in the visible bands based on spectroscopic and kinematic techniques. Certain elemental abundances, e.g. Na and Fe, have dramatic effects on the IMF-sensitive features and therefore the derived IMF slopes. We show evidence for a high [Na/H] $\sim$ 0.65 dex in the core of M85 from two independent \ion{Na}{1} absorption features. The high Na abundance may be the result of a recent galactic merger involving M85. This suggests that including [Na/H] in the stellar population model parameters is critical for constraining the IMF slopes in M85. These results confirm the viability of using NIR absorption features to investigate IMF variation in nearby galaxies., Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ

Environmental effects are crucial to the understanding of the evolution of galaxies in dense environments, such as galaxy clusters. Using the large field-of-view of SITELLE, the unique imaging fourier transform spectrograph at CFHT, we are able to obtain 2D spectral information for a large and complete sample of cluster galaxies out to the infall region. We describe a pipeline developed to identify emission line galaxies (ELGs) from the datacube using cross-correlation techniques. We present results based on the spatial offsets between the emission-line regions and stellar continua in ELGs from two z$\sim$0.25 galaxy clusters, Abell 2390 and Abell 2465. We find a preference in the offsets being pointed away from the cluster center. Combining the two clusters, there is a 3$\sigma$ excess for high-velocity galaxies within the virial radius having the offsets to be pointed away from the cluster center. Assuming the offset being a proxy for the velocity vector of a galaxy, as expected from ram pressure stripping, this excess indicates that ram pressure stripping occurs most effectively during the first passage of an infalling galaxy, leading to the quenching of its star formation. We also find that, outside the virial region, the continuum-normalized H$\alpha$ line flux for infalling galaxies with large offsets are on average lower than those with small or no measurable offset, further supporting ram pressure as a dominant quenching mechanism during the initial infall stages., Comment: 25 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

This paper presents optical night sky brightness measurements from the stratosphere using CCD images taken with the Super-pressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT). The data used for estimating the backgrounds were obtained during three commissioning flights in 2016, 2018, and 2019 at altitudes ranging from 28 km to 34 km above sea level. For a valid comparison of the brightness measurements from the stratosphere with measurements from mountain-top ground-based observatories (taken at zenith on the darkest moonless night at high Galactic and high ecliptic latitudes), the stratospheric brightness levels were zodiacal light and diffuse Galactic light subtracted, and the airglow brightness was projected to zenith. The stratospheric brightness was measured around 5.5 hours, 3 hours, and 2 hours before the local sunrise time in 2016, 2018, and 2019 respectively. The $B$, $V$, $R$, and $I$ brightness levels in 2016 were 2.7, 1.0, 1.1, and 0.6 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ darker than the darkest ground-based measurements. The $B$, $V$, and $R$ brightness levels in 2018 were 1.3, 1.0, and 1.3 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ darker than the darkest ground-based measurements. The $U$ and $I$ brightness levels in 2019 were 0.1 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ brighter than the darkest ground-based measurements, whereas the $B$ and $V$ brightness levels were 0.8 and 0.6 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ darker than the darkest ground-based measurements. The lower sky brightness levels, stable photometry, and lower atmospheric absorption make stratospheric observations from a balloon-borne platform a unique tool for astronomy. We plan to continue this work in a future mid-latitude long duration balloon flight with SuperBIT., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal

We report the optical design of an infrared (0.85-1.8 μm) pyramid wavefront sensor (IRPWFS) that is designed for the 6.5m MMT on telescope adaptive optics system using the latest developments in low-noise infrared avalanche photodiode arrays. The comparison between the pyramid and the double-roof prism based wavefront sensors and the evaluation of their micro pupils’ quality are presented. According to our analysis, the use of two double-roof prisms with achromatic materials produces the competitive performance when compared to the traditional pyramid prism, which is difficult to manufacture. The final micro pupils on the image plane have the residual errors of pupil position, chromatism, and distortion within 1/10 pixel over the 2×2 arcsecond field of view, which meet the original design goals., Series: Proceedings of SPIE; no. 10401

We have recently commissioned a novel infrared (0:9-1:7 μm) integral field spectrograph (IFS) called the Wide Integral Field Infrared Spectrograph (WIFIS). WIFIS is a unique instrument that offers a very large field-of-view (5000 x 2000) on the 2.3-meter Bok telescope at Kitt Peak, USA for seeing-limited observations at moderate spectral resolving power. The measured spatial sampling scale is ~ 1 x 1" and its spectral resolving power is R ~ 2; 500 and 3; 000 in the z J (0:9 - 1:35 μm) and Hshort (1:5 - 1:7 μm) modes, respectively. WIFIS's corresponding etendue is larger than existing near-infrared (NIR) IFSes, which are mostly designed to work with adaptive optics systems and therefore have very narrow fields. For this reason, this instrument is specifically suited for studying very extended objects in the near-infrared such as supernovae remnants, galactic star forming regions, and nearby galaxies, which are not easily accessible by other NIR IFSes. This enables scientific programs that were not originally possible, such as detailed surveys of a large number of nearby galaxies or a full accounting of nucleosynthetic yields of Milky Way supernova remnants. WIFIS is also designed to be easily adaptable to be used with larger telescopes. In this paper, we report on the overall performance characteristics of the instrument, which were measured during our commissioning runs in the second half of 2017. We present measurements of spectral resolving power, image quality, instrumental background, and overall efficiency and sensitivity of WIFIS and compare them with our design expectations. Finally, we present a few example observations that demonstrate WIFIS's full capability to carry out infrared imaging spectroscopy of extended objects, which is enabled by our custom data reduction pipeline.

The Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) is a powerful new instrument being built to facility- class standards for the Gemini telescope. It takes advantage of the latest developments in adaptive optics and integral field spectrographs. GIRMOS will carry out simultaneous high-angular-resolution, spatially-resolved infrared (1 - 2.4 µm) spectroscopy of four objects within a two-arcminute field-of-regard by taking advantage of multi-object adaptive optics. This capability does not currently exist anywhere in the world and therefore offers significant scientific gains over a very broad range of topics in astronomical research. For example, current programs for high redshift galaxies are pushing the limits of what is possible with infrared spectroscopy at 8 -10- meter class facilities by requiring up to several nights of observing time per target. Therefore, the observation of multiple objects simultaneously with adaptive optics is absolutely necessary to make effective use of telescope time and obtain statistically significant samples for high redshift science. With an expected commissioning date of 2023, GIRMOS’s capabilities will also make it a key followup instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope when it is launched in 2021, as well as a true scientific and technical pathfinder for future Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) multi-object spectroscopic instrumentation. In this paper, we will present an overview of this instrument’s capabilities and overall architecture. We also highlight how this instrument lays the ground work for a future TMT early-light instrument.

We present the optomechanical design and development of the Wide Integral Field Infrared Spectrograph (WIFIS). WIFIS will provide an unrivalled integral field size of 20”×50” for a near-infrared (0.9-1.7 μm) integral-field spectrograph at the 2.3-meter Steward Bok telescope. Its main optomechanical system consists of two assemblies: a room-temperature bench housing the majority of the optical components and a cryostat for a field-flattening lens, thermal blocking filter, and detector. Two additional optical subsystems will provide calibration functionality, telescope guiding, and off-axis optical imaging. WIFIS will be a highly competitive instrument for seeing-limited astronomical investigations of the dynamics and chemistry of extended objects in the near-infrared wavebands. WIFIS is expected to be commissioned during the end of 2016 with scientific operations beginning in 2017.

We discuss the optical design of an infrared multi-object spectrograph (MOS) concept that is designed to take advantage of the multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) corrected field at the Gemini South telescope. This design employs a unique, cryogenic MEMS-based focal plane mask to select target objects for spectroscopy by utilizing the Micro-Shutter Array (MSA) technology originally developed for the Near Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec) of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The optical design is based on all spherical refractive optics, which serves both imaging and spectroscopic modes across the wavelength range of 0.9−2.5 μm. The optical system consists of a reimaging system, MSA, collimator, volume phase holographic (VPH) grisms, and spectrograph camera optics. The VPH grisms, which are VPH gratings sandwiched between two prisms, provide high dispersing efficiencies, and a set of several VPH grisms provide the broad spectral coverage at high throughputs. The imaging mode is implemented by removing the MSA and the dispersing unit out of the beam. We optimize both the imaging and spectrographic modes simultaneously, while paying special attention to the performance of the pupil imaging at the cold stop. Our current design provides a 1' ♦ 1' and a 0.5' ♦ 1' field of views for imaging and spectroscopic modes, respectively, on a 2048 × 2048 pixel HAWAII-2RG detector array. The spectrograph’s slit width and spectral resolving power are 0.18'' and 3,000, respectively, and spectra of up to 100 objects can be obtained simultaneously. We present the overall results of simulated performance using optical model we designed.

To determine the relative contributions of galactic and intracluster stars to the enrichment of the intracluster medium (ICM), we present X-ray surface brightness, temperature, and Fe abundance profiles for a set of twelve galaxy clusters for which we have extensive optical photometry. Assuming a standard IMF and simple chemical evolution model scaled to match the present-day cluster early-type SN Ia rate, the stars in the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) plus the intracluster stars (ICS) generate 31^{+11}_{-9}%, on average, of the observed ICM Fe within r_{500} (~ 0.6 times r_{200}, the virial radius). An alternate, two-component SN Ia model (including both prompt and delayed detonations) produces a similar BCG+ICS contribution of 22^{+9}_{-9}%. Because the ICS typically contribute 80% of the BCG+ICS Fe, we conclude that the ICS are significant, yet often neglected, contributors to the ICM Fe within r_{500}. However, the BCG+ICS fall short of producing all the Fe, so metal loss from stars in other cluster galaxies must also contribute. By combining the enrichment from intracluster and galactic stars, we can account for all the observed Fe. These models require a galactic metal loss fraction (0.84^{+0.11}_{-0.14}) that, while large, is consistent with the metal mass not retained by galactic stars. The SN Ia rates, especially as a function of galaxy environment and redshift, remain a significant source of uncertainty in further constraining the metal loss fraction. For example, increasing the SN Ia rate by a factor of 1.8 -- to just within the 2 sigma uncertainty for present-day cluster early-type galaxies -- allows the combined BCG + ICS + cluster galaxy model to generate all the ICM Fe with a much lower galactic metal loss fraction (~ 0.35)., Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We examine metal and entropy content in galaxy groups having T_X~0.5-2 keV in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. Our simulations include a well-constrained prescription for galactic outflows following momentum-driven wind scalings, and a sophisticated chemical evolution model. Our simulation with no outflows reproduces observed iron abundances in X-ray emitting gas, but the oxygen abundance is too low; including outflows yields iron and oxygen abundances in good agreement with data. X-ray measures of [O/Fe] primarily reflect metal distribution mechanisms into hot gas, not the ratio of Type Ia to Type II supernovae within the group. Iron abundance increases by x2 from z=1-0 independent of group size, consistent with that seen in clusters, while [O/Fe] drops by ~30%. Core entropy versus temperature is elevated over self-similar predictions regardless of outflows due to radiative cooling removing low-entropy gas, but outflows provide an additional entropy contribution below 1 keV. This results in a noticeable break in the L_X-T_X relation below 1 keV, as observed. Importantly, outflows serve to reduce the stellar content of groups to observed levels. Radial profiles from simulations are in broad agreement with observations, but there remain non-trivial discrepancies that may reflect an excess of late-time star formation in central group galaxies in our simulations. Our model with outflows suggests a connection between physical processes of galaxy formation and both pre-heating and enrichment in intragroup gas, though more definitive conclusions must await a model that simultaneously suppresses cooling flows as observed., Comment: 16 pages, MNRAS, accepted version

We measure the baryons contained in both the stellar and hot gas components for twelve galaxy clusters and groups at z~0.1 with M=1-5e14 Msun. This paper improves upon our previous work through the addition of XMM data, enabling measurements of the total mass and masses of each major baryonic component --- ICM, intracluster stars, and stars in galaxies --- for each system. We recover a relation for the stellar mass versus halo mass consistent with our previous result. We confirm that the partitioning of baryons between the stellar and hot gas components is a strong function of M500; the fractions of total mass in stars and X-ray gas within r500 scale as M500^-0.45 and M500^0.26, respectively. We also confirm that the combination of the BCG and intracluster stars is an increasingly important contributor to the stellar baryon budget in lower halo masses. We find a weak, but statistically significant, dependence of the total baryon fraction upon halo mass, scaling as M500^0.16. For M500>2e14, the total baryon fractions within r500 are on average 18% (7%) below the Universal value from the WMAP7 (Planck) analysis. For Planck, the difference between the Universal value and cluster baryon fractions is less than the systematic uncertainties associated with M500. The total baryon fractions exhibit significant scatter, particularly at M500, 20 pages, Accepted to The Astrophysical Journal

Observations from near the Eureka station on Ellesmere Island, in the Canadian High Arctic at 80° North, benefit from 24-hour darkness combined with dark skies and long cloud-free periods during the winter. Our first astronomical surveys conducted at the site are aimed at transiting exoplanets; compared to mid-latitude sites, the continuous darkness during the Arctic winter greatly improves the survey's detection efficiency for longer-period transiting planets. We detail the design, construction, and testing of the first two instruments: a robotic telescope, and a set of very wide-field imaging cameras. The 0.5m Dunlap Institute Arctic Telescope has a 0.8-square-degree field of view and is designed to search for potentially habitable exoplanets around low-mass stars. The very wide field cameras have several-hundred-square-degree fields of view pointed at Polaris, are designed to search for transiting planets around bright stars, and were tested at the site in February 2012. Finally, we present a conceptual design for the Compound Arctic Telescope Survey (CATS), a multiplexed transient and transit search system which can produce a 10,000-square-degree snapshot image every few minutes throughout the Arctic winter. © 2012 SPIE., Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes IV, July 1-6, 2012, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Series: Proceedings of SPIE; no. 8444

We present three new eclipsing white-dwarf / M-dwarf binary systems discovered during a search for transiting planets around M-dwarfs. Unlike most known eclipsing systems of this type, the optical and infrared emission is dominated by the M-dwarf components, and the systems have optical colors and discovery light curves consistent with being Jupiter-radius transiting planets around early M-dwarfs. We detail the PTF/M-dwarf transiting planet survey, part of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We present a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)-based box-least-squares search for transits that runs approximately 8X faster than similar algorithms implemented on general purpose systems. For the discovered systems, we decompose low-resolution spectra of the systems into white-dwarf and M-dwarf components, and use radial velocity measurements and cooling models to estimate masses and radii for the white dwarfs. The systems are compact, with periods between 0.35 and 0.45 days and semimajor axes of approximately 2 solar radii (0.01 AU). We use the Robo-AO laser guide star adaptive optics system to tentatively identify one of the objects as a triple system. We also use high-cadence photometry to put an upper limit on the white dwarf radius of 0.025 solar radii (95% confidence) in one of the systems. We estimate that 0.08% (90% confidence) of M-dwarfs are in these short-period, post-common-envelope white-dwarf / M-dwarf binaries where the optical light is dominated by the M-dwarf. Similar eclipsing binary systems can have arbitrarily small eclipse depths in red bands and generate plausible small-planet-transit light curves. As such, these systems are a source of false positives for M-dwarf transiting planet searches. We present several ways to rapidly distinguish these binaries from transiting planet systems., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, submitted to ApJ

The Multi-Epoch Nearby Cluster Survey (MENeaCS) has discovered twenty-three cluster Type Ia supernovae (SNe) in the 58 X-ray selected galaxy clusters (0.05 < z < 0.15) surveyed. Four of our SN Ia events have no host galaxy on close inspection, and are likely intracluster SNe. Deep image stacks at the location of the candidate intracluster SNe put upper limits on the luminosities of faint hosts, with M_{r} > -13.0 mag and M_{g} > -12.5 mag in all cases. For such limits, the fraction of the cluster luminosity in faint dwarfs below our detection limit is, 24 pages, 8 figures, ApJ published

International audience; The Large Zenith Telescope is a 6 m optical telescope employing a rotating primary mirror coated with a film of liquid mercury. Located at an altitude of 400 m in the Coast Mountains of southwestern British Columbia, this telescope began regular operation in 2005 October. Equipped with a four-element Richardson prime-focus corrector and thinned 2048×2048 pixel drift-scanning CCD imaging camera, it is used for astronomical survey observations and also serves as an engineering test facility for further development of liquid-mirror technology. Built at a cost of less than $1 million dollars, it achieves an image quality and sensitivity comparable to that of a conventional telescope of equal aperture and is limited primarily by the astronomical quality of the site.

We present the first astronomical observations obtained with an Apodizing Phase Plate (APP). The plate is designed to suppress the stellar diffraction pattern by 5 magnitudes from 2-9 lambda/D over a 180 degree region. Stellar images were obtained in the M' band (4.85 microns) at the MMTO 6.5m telescope, with adaptive wavefront correction made with a deformable secondary mirror designed for low thermal background observations. The measured PSF shows a halo intensity of 0.1% of the stellar peak at 2 lambda/D (0.36 arcsec), tapering off as r^{-5/3} out to radius 9 lambda/D. Such a profile is consistent with residual errors predicted for servo lag in the AO system. We project a 5 sigma contrast limit, set by residual atmospheric fluctuations, of 10.2 magnitudes at 0.36 arcsec separation for a one hour exposure. This can be realised if static and quasi-static aberrations are removed by differential imaging, and is close to the sensitivity level set by thermal background photon noise for target stars with M'>3. The advantage of using the phase plate is the removal of speckle noise caused by the residuals in the diffraction pattern that remain after PSF subtraction. The APP gives higher sensitivity over the range 2-5 lambda/D compared to direct imaging techniques., 22 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, ApJ accepted

We have begun a program to search for supernovae and other transients in the fields of galaxy clusters with the 2.3m Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak. We present our automated photometric methods for data reduction, efficiency characterization, and initial spectroscopy. With this program, we aim to ultimately identify $\sim$25-35 cluster SN Ia ($\sim$10 of which will be intracluster, hostless events) and constrain the SN Ia rate associated with old, passive stellar populations. With these measurements we will constrain the relative contribution of hostless and hosted SN Ia to the metal enrichment of the intracluster medium. In the current work, we have identified a central excess of transient events within $1.25 r_{200}$ in our cluster fields after statistically subtracting out the 'background' transient rate taken from an off-cluster CCD chip. Based on the published rate of SN Ia for cluster populations we estimate that $\sim$20 percent of the excess cluster transients are due to cluster SN Ia, a comparable fraction to core collapse (CC) supernovae and the remaining are likely to be active galactic nuclei. Interestingly, we have identified three intracluster SN candidates, all of which lay beyond $R>r_{200}$. These events, if truly associated with the cluster, indicate a large deficit of intracluster (IC) SN at smaller radii, and may be associated with the IC stars of infalling groups or indicate that the intracluster light (ICL) in the cluster outskirts is actively forming stars which contribute CC SN or prompt SN Ia., Updated to match accepted version; 26 pages, 14 figures, AJ accepted