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Type Ia supernovae are thought to result from a thermonuclear explosion of an accreting white dwarf in a binary system1, 2, but little is known of the precise nature of the companion star and the physical properties of the progenitor system. There are two classes of models1, 3: double-degenerate (involving two white dwarfs in a close binary system2, 4) and single-degenerate models5, 6. In the latter, the primary white dwarf accretes material from a secondary companion until conditions are such that carbon ignites, at a mass of 1.38 times the mass of the Sun. The type Ia supernova SN 2011fe was recently detected in a nearby galaxy7. Here we report an analysis of archival images of the location of SN 2011fe. The luminosity of the progenitor system (especially the companion star) is 10–100 times fainter than previous limits on other type Ia supernova progenitor systems8, 9, 10, allowing us to rule out luminous red giants and almost all helium stars as the mass-donating companion to the exploding white dwarf.

arXiv:1510.05750v2.-- et al., Supernova "Refsdal", multiply imaged by cluster MACS1149.5+2223, represents a rare opportunity to make a true blind test of model predictions in extragalactic astronomy, on a timescale that is short compared to a human lifetime. In order to take advantage of this event, we produced seven gravitational lens models with five independent methods, based on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Hubble Frontier Field images, along with extensive spectroscopic follow-up observations by HST, the Very Large and the Keck Telescopes. We compare the model predictions and show that they agree reasonably well with the measured time delays and magnification ratios between the known images, even though these quantities were not used as input. This agreement is encouraging, considering that the models only provide statistical uncertainties, and do not include additional sources of uncertainties such as structure along the line of sight, cosmology, and the mass sheet degeneracy. We then present the model predictions for the other appearances of supernova >Refsdal.> A future image will reach its peak in the first half of 2016, while another image appeared between 1994 and 2004. The past image would have been too faint to be detected in existing archival images. The future image should be approximately one-third as bright as the brightest known image (i.e., mag at peak and mag six months before peak), and thus detectable in single-orbit HST images. We will find out soon whether our predictions are correct., This work is supported by NASA through grants HST-GO-13459 and HST-GO-14041 from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. T.T. is supported by the Packard Foundation in the form of a Packard Research Fellowship. J.M.D. is grateful for support from the consolider project CSD2010-00064 and AYA2012-39475-C02-01 funded by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad. A.V.F.'s research is supported by the Christopher R. Redlich Fund, the TABASGO Foundation, and NSF grant AST-1211916. C.G. acknowledges support by the VILLUM FONDEN Young Investigator Programme through grant no. 10123. Support for A.Z. was provided by NASA through Hubble Fellowship grant #HST-HF2-51334.001-A awarded by STScI. The work of M.O. was supported in part by World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI Initiative), MEXT, Japan, and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the JSPS (26800093). Financial support for this work was provided to S.A.R. by NASA through grants HST-HF-51312 and HST-GO-13386 from STScI. A.H. is supported by NASA Head-quarters under the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program, grant ASTRO14F-0007. R.J.F. gratefully acknowledges support from NSF grant AST-1518052, NASA grants HST-GO-14041 and HST-GO-13386, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This work was supported in part by a NASA Keck PI Data Award (PID 47/2014B N125D, PI Jha).

Facility: HST (WFC3).-- Rodney, Steven A. et al., SN HFF14Tom is a Type Ia SN discovered at Z = 1.3457 ± 0.0001 behind the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 (Z = 0.308). In a cosmology-independent analysis, we find that HFF14Tom is 0.77 ± 0.15 mag brighter than unlensed Type Ia SNe at similar redshift, implying a lensing magnification of μ = 2.03 ± 0.29. This observed magnification provides a rare opportunity for a direct empirical test of galaxy cluster lens models. Here we test 17 lens models, 13 of which were generated before the SN magnification was known, qualifying as pure >blind tests. > The models are collectively fairly accurate: 8 of the models deliver median magnifications that are consistent with the measured μ to within 1λ. However, there is a subtle systematic bias: the significant disagreements all involve models overpredicting the magnification. We evaluate possible causes for this mild bias, and find no single physical or methodological explanation to account for it. We do find that model accuracy can be improved to some extent with stringent quality cuts on multiply imaged systems, such as requiring that a large fraction have spectroscopic redshifts. In addition to testing model accuracies as we have done here, Type Ia SN magnifications could also be used as inputs for future lens models of Abell 2744 and other clusters, providing valuable constraints in regions where traditional strong- and weak-lensing information is unavailable., Financial support for this work was provided to S.A.R. by NASA through grants HST-HF-51312 and HST-GO-13386 from STScI, which is operated by Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. A.M. acknowledge the financial support of the Brazilian funding agency FAPESP (Post-doc fellowship—process number 2014/11806-9). Support for this research at Rutgers University was provided in part by NSF CAREER award AST-0847157 to SWJ. The Dark Cosmology Centre is supported by the Danish National Research Foundation. J.M.D. acknowledges support of the consolider project CSD2010-00064 and AYA2012–39475-C02-01 funded by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad. J.M. contributed to this research from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA and acknowledges support from NASA Grants HST-GO-13343.05-A and HST-GO-13386.13-A. The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/20072013) under REA grant agreement number 627288. A.Z. acknowledges financial support from NASA through grant HST-HF-51334.01-A awarded by STScI and operated by AURA. T.T. acknowledges support by the Packard Foundation in the form of Packard Research Fellowship. GLASS is funded by NASA through HST grant GO-13459. L.L.R.W. acknowledges the support of the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute.

In 1964, Refsdal hypothesized that a supernova whose light traversed multiple paths around a strong gravitational lens could be used to measure the rate of cosmic expansion. We report the discovery of such a system. In Hubble Space Telescope imaging, we have found four images of a single supernova forming an Einstein cross configuration around a redshift z=0.54 elliptical galaxy in the MACS J1149.6+2223 cluster. The cluster's gravitational potential also creates multiple images of the z=1.49 spiral supernova host galaxy, and a future appearance of the supernova elsewhere in the cluster field is expected. The magnifications and staggered arrivals of the supernova images probe the cosmic expansion rate, as well as the distribution of matter in the galaxy and cluster lenses., Published in the 6 March 2015 issue of Science; 17 pages, 7 figures, and 3 tables including Supplementary Materials

The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) was a multi-cycle treasury program on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) that surveyed a total area of ~0.25 deg^2 with ~900 HST orbits spread across 5 fields over 3 years. Within these survey images we discovered 65 supernovae (SN) of all types, out to z~2.5. We classify ~24 of these as Type Ia SN (SN Ia) based on host-galaxy redshifts and SN photometry (supplemented by grism spectroscopy of 6 SN). Here we present a measurement of the volumetric SN Ia rate as a function of redshift, reaching for the first time beyond z=2 and putting new constraints on SN Ia progenitor models. Our highest redshift bin includes detections of SN that exploded when the universe was only ~3 Gyr old and near the peak of the cosmic star-formation history. This gives the CANDELS high-redshift sample unique leverage for evaluating the fraction of SN Ia that explode promptly after formation (40 Myr. However, a mild tension is apparent between ground-based low-z surveys and space-based high-z surveys. In both CANDELS and the sister HST program CLASH, we find a low rate of SN Ia at z>1. This could be a hint that prompt progenitors are in fact relatively rare, accounting for only ~20% of all SN Ia explosions -- though further analysis and larger samples will be needed to examine that suggestion., 20 pages + 10-page appendix, 12 figures + 5 in appendix; Accepted to AJ ; latest version includes updates to discussion and figures, responding to referee and others

We report the discovery of a Type Ia supernova (SNIa) at redshift z=1.55 with the infrared detector of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3-IR) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This object was discovered in CANDELS imaging data of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, and followed as part of the CANDELS+CLASH Supernova project, comprising the SN search components from those two HST multi-cycle treasury programs. This is the highest redshift SNIa with direct spectroscopic evidence for classification. It is also the first SN Ia at z>1 found and followed in the infrared, providing a full light curve in rest-frame optical bands. The classification and redshift are securely defined from a combination of multi-band and multi-epoch photometry of the SN, ground-based spectroscopy of the host galaxy, and WFC3-IR grism spectroscopy of both the SN and host. This object is the first of a projected sample at z>1.5 that will be discovered by the CANDELS and CLASH programs. The full CANDELS+CLASH SN Ia sample will enable unique tests for evolutionary effects that could arise due to differences in SN Ia progenitor systems as a function of redshift. This high-z sample will also allow measurement of the SN Ia rate out to z~2, providing a complementary constraint on SN Ia progenitor models., 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

The Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) is a 524-orbit multi-cycle treasury program to use the gravitational lensing properties of 25 galaxy clusters to accurately constrain their mass distributions. The survey, described in detail in this paper, will definitively establish the degree of concentration of dark matter in the cluster cores, a key prediction of CDM. The CLASH cluster sample is larger and less biased than current samples of space-based imaging studies of clusters to similar depth, as we have minimized lensing-based selection that favors systems with overly dense cores. Specifically, twenty CLASH clusters are solely X-ray selected. The X-ray selected clusters are massive (kT > 5 keV; 5 - 30 x 10^14 M_solar) and, in most cases, dynamically relaxed. Five additional clusters are included for their lensing strength (Einstein radii > 35 arcsec at z_source = 2) to further quantify the lensing bias on concentration, to yield high resolution dark matter maps, and to optimize the likelihood of finding highly magnified high-redshift (z > 7) galaxies. The high magnification, in some cases, provides angular resolutions unobtainable with any current UVOIR facility and can yield z > 7 candidates bright enough for spectroscopic follow-up. A total of 16 broadband filters, spanning the near-UV to near-IR, are employed for each 20-orbit campaign on each cluster. These data are used to measure precise (sigma_phz 1 to improve constraints on the time dependence of the dark energy equation of state and the evolution of such supernovae in an epoch when the universe is matter dominated.

We present a strong-lensing analysis of the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 ($z$=0.44) using UV, Optical, and IR, HST/ACS/WFC3 data taken as part of the CLASH multi-cycle treasury program, with VLT/VIMOS spectroscopy for some of the multiply-lensed arcs. The CLASH observations, combined with our mass-model, allow us to identify 47 new multiply-lensed images of 12 distant sources. These images, along with the previously known arc, span the redshift range $1\la z\la5.5$, and thus enable us to derive a detailed mass distribution and to accurately constrain, for the first time, the inner mass-profile of this cluster. We find an inner profile slope of $d\log \Sigma/d\log \theta\simeq -0.55\pm 0.1$ (in the range [1\arcsec, 53\arcsec], or $5\la r \la300$ kpc), as commonly found for relaxed and well-concentrated clusters. Using the many systems uncovered here we derive credible critical curves and Einstein radii for different source redshifts. For a source at $z_{s}\simeq2.5$, the critical curve encloses a large area with an effective Einstein radius of $\theta_{E}=28\pm3\arcsec$, and a projected mass of $1.34\pm0.15\times10^{14} M_{\odot}$. From the current understanding of structure formation in concordance cosmology, these values are relatively high for clusters at $z\sim0.5$, so that detailed studies of the inner mass distribution of clusters such as MACS J1206.2-0847 can provide stringent tests of the $\Lambda$CDM paradigm., Comment: 7 pages, 1 table, 4 figures; submitted to ApJ Letters; V3: minor corrections

We examine the inner mass distribution of the relaxed galaxy cluster Abell 383 in deep 16-band HST/ACS+WFC3 imaging taken as part of the CLASH multi-cycle treasury program. Our program is designed to study the dark matter distribution in 25 massive clusters, and balances depth with a wide wavelength coverage to better identify lensed systems and generate precise photometric redshifts. This information together with the predictive strength of our strong-lensing analysis method identifies 13 new multiply-lensed images and candidates, so that a total of 27 multiple-images of 9 systems are used to tightly constrain the inner mass profile, $d\log \Sigma/d\log r\simeq -0.6\pm 0.1$ (r, Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, 2 tabels; V3 matches the submitted version later published in ApJ

We report observations of three gravitationally lensed supernovae (SNe) in the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) Multi-Cycle Treasury program. These objects, SN CLO12Car (z = 1.28), SN CLN12Did (z = 0.85), and SN CLA11Tib (z = 1.14), are located behind three different clusters, MACSJ1720.2+3536 (z = 0.391), RXJ1532.9+3021 (z = 0.345), and Abell 383 (z = 0.187), respectively. Each SN was detected in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) optical and infrared images. Based on photometric classification, we find that SNe CLO12Car and CLN12Did are likely to be Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), while the classification of SN CLA11Tib is inconclusive. Using multi-color light-curve fits to determine a standardized SN Ia luminosity distance, we infer that SN CLO12Car was approximately 1.0 +/- 0.2 mag brighter than field SNe Ia at a similar redshift and ascribe this to gravitational lens magnification. Similarly, SN CLN12Did is approximately 0.2 +/- 0.2 mag brighter than field SNe Ia. We derive independent estimates of the predicted magnification from CLASH strong+weak lensing maps of the clusters: 0.83 +/- 0.16 mag for SN CLO12Car, 0.28 +/- 0.08 mag for SN CLN12Did, and 0.43 +/- 0.11 mag for SN CLA11Tib. The two SNe Ia provide a new test of the cluster lens model predictions: we find that the magnifications based on the SN Ia brightness and those predicted by the lens maps are consistent. Our results herald the promise of future observations of samples of cluster-lensed SNe Ia (from the ground or space) to help illuminate the dark-matter distribution in clusters of galaxies, through the direct determination of absolute magnifications., Comment: ApJ in press

We report on observations of a luminous supersoft X-ray source (SSS) in M31, r1-25, that has exhibited spectral changes to harder X-ray states. We document these spectral changes. In addition, we show that they have important implications for modeling the source. Quasisoft states in a source that has been observed as an SSS represent a newly- discovered phenomenon. We show how such state changers could prove to be examples of unusual black hole or neutron star accretors. Future observations of this and other state changers can provide the information needed to determine the nature(s) of these intriguing new sources.

We present the discovery of a Type Ia supernova (SN) at redshift $z = 1.914$ from the CANDELS multi-cycle treasury program on the \textit{Hubble Space Telescope (HST)}. This SN was discovered in the infrared using the Wide-Field Camera 3, and it is the highest-redshift Type Ia SN yet observed. We classify this object as a SN\,Ia by comparing its light curve and spectrum with those of a large sample of Type Ia and core-collapse supernovae (SNe). Its apparent magnitude is consistent with that expected from the $\Lambda$CDM concordance cosmology. We discuss the use of spectral evidence for classification of $z > 1.5$ SNe\,Ia using {\it HST} grism simulations, finding that spectral data alone can frequently rule out SNe\,II, but distinguishing between SNe\,Ia and SNe\,Ib/c can require prohibitively long exposures. In such cases, a quantitative analysis of the light curve may be necessary for classification. Our photometric and spectroscopic classification methods can aid the determination of SN rates and cosmological parameters from the full high-redshift CANDELS SN sample., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ; minor changes