Search

We present a long temporal baseline variability survey in the Frontier Field MACSJ1149. In this study, we identify active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and other transient sources via their variability using over a decade of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images for thousands of galaxies in the cluster region and detect significant variability in galaxies extending down to an apparent nuclear magnitude of mi < 26.5. Our analysis utilizes HST images obtained in six different wavelengths from 435 nm to 1.6 microns and covers timescales 12 hr to 12 yr apart. We find that ∼2% of galaxies in these images are variable, with 49 AGN candidates and 4 new supernovae candidates detected. Half of the variables are in the cluster and these are primarily elliptical galaxies displaying variability only in the near-infrared bands. About 20% of the AGN candidates have morphologies and colors consistent with quasars, though most of the variables appear to be dominated by the host galaxy light. The structure function for these sources shows a greater amplitude of variability at shorter wavelengths, with slopes shallower than typical quasars. We also report a previously unknown Einstein cross identified in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Reionization Cluster Survey imaged 41 galaxy clusters with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), in order to detect lensed and high-redshift galaxies. Each cluster was imaged to about 26.5 AB mag in three optical and four near-infrared bands, taken in two distinct visits separated by varying time intervals. We make use of the multiple near-infrared epochs to search for transient sources in the cluster fields, with the primary motivation of building statistics for bright caustic crossing events in gravitational arcs. Over the whole sample, we do not find any significant (≳5σ) caustic crossing events, in line with expectations from semi-analytical calculations but in contrast to what may be naively expected from previous detections of some bright events or from deeper transient surveys that do find high rates of such events. Nevertheless, we find six prominent supernova (SN) candidates over the 41 fields: three of them were previously reported and three are new ones reported here for the first time. Out of the six candidates, four are likely core-collapse SNe – three in cluster galaxies, and among which only one was known before, and one slightly behind the cluster at z ∼ 0.6–0.7. The other two are likely Ia – both of them previously known, one probably in a cluster galaxy and one behind it at z ≃ 2. Our study supplies empirical bounds for the rate of caustic crossing events in galaxy cluster fields to typical HST magnitudes, and lays the groundwork for a future SN rate study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a sample of 45 core collapse supernovae detected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope to derive the core collapse supernova rate in the redshift range 0.1 < z < 1.3. In redshift bins centered on 〈 z〉 = 0.39, 〈 z〉 = 0.73, and 〈 z〉 = 1.11, we find rates of 3.00+1.28– 0.94+1.04– 0.57, 7.39+1.86– 1.52+3.20– 1.60, and 9.57+3.76– 2.80+4.96– 2.80, respectively, given in units of yr–1 Mpc–3 10–4h370. The rates have been corrected for host galaxy extinction, including supernovae missed in highly dust-enshrouded environments in infrared bright galaxies. The first errors are statistical while the second ones are the estimated systematic errors. We perform a detailed discussion of possible sources of systematic errors and note that these start to dominate over statistical errors at z > 0.5, emphasizing the need to better control the systematic effects. For example, a better understanding of the amount of dust extinction in the host galaxies and knowledge of the supernova luminosity function, in particular the fraction of faint M ≳ –15 supernovae, is needed to better constrain the rates. When comparing our results with the core collapse supernova rate based on the star formation rate, we find a good agreement, consistent with the supernova rate following the star formation rate, as expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the discovery of four images of a single supernova caused by an early-type cluster galaxy gravitational lens. It states that researchers used the Hubble Space Telescope to discover a supernova forming an Einstein cross configuration and mentions the lens also created multiple images of the spiral galaxy the supernova occurred in. It talks about the use of the multiple images to examine the cosmic expansion rate and the distribution of matter in the galaxy lens.

We present the discovery of a Type Ia supernova (SN) at redshift z = 1.914 from the CANDELS multi-cycle treasury program on the 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 SNe. Its apparent magnitude is consistent with that expected from the ΛCDM concordance cosmology.We discuss the use of spectral evidence for classification of z > 1.5 SNe Ia using 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the discovery of a Type la supernova (SN Ia) 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 SN Ia 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]