Illuminating Dark Energy with Supernovae.

The article discusses what catastrophic explosions in space reveal about the early universe. Topics include the author's simulation of a supernova, which is a powerful stellar explosion driven by a thermonuclear fusion reaction, on the National Geographic Channel television program "Known Universe," how the release of photons from a Type la supernova aids scientists in deducing the expansion history of the universe and its underlying dark energy, and research by astronomers with the Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP) and the High-z Supernova Search Team determining the distances to Type la Supernovae by its brightness. The different types of supernovae and the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) are also discussed.