High-z Supernova Search Team
Encyclopedia
The High-z Supernova Search Team was an international cosmology
collaboration which used Type Ia Supernovae to chart the expansion of the Universe
. The team was formed in 1994 by Brian P. Schmidt
, then a post-doctoral research associate at Harvard University, and Nicholas B. Suntzeff
, a staff astronomer at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
in Chile. The original team first proposed for the research on September 29, 1994 in a proposal called A Pilot Project to Search for Distant Type Ia Supernova to the CTIO Inter-American Observatory. The original team as co-listed on the first observing proposal was: Nicholas Suntzeff (PI); Brian Schmidt
(Co-I); (other Co-Is) R. Chris Smith, Robert Schommer
, Mark M. Phillips
, Mario Hamuy
, Roberto Aviles, Jose Maza, Adam Riess
, Robert Kirshner
, Jason Spiromilio, and Bruno Leibundgut. The original project was awarded four nights of telescope time on the Victor M. Blanco Telescope
on the nights of February 25, 1995, and March 6,24, and 29 1995. The pilot project led to the discovery of supernova SN1995Y ...
The team expanded to roughly 20 astronomers located in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Chile. They used the Victor M. Blanco Telescope
of CTIO to discover Type Ia supernova
e out to redshifts of z=0.9. The discoveries were verified with spectra taken mostly from the telescopes of the Keck Observatory, and the European Southern Observatory
.
In a 1998 study led by Adam Riess
, the High-z Team became the first to publish evidence that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating
(Riess et al. 1998, AJ, 116, 1009, submitted March 13, 1998, accepted May 1998). The team was managed by Brian P. Schmidt
of the Mount Stromlo Observatory
, which is part of the Australian National University
. The team later spawned Project ESSENCE led by Christopher Stubbs
of Harvard University and the Higher-z Team led by Adam Riess
of Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute.
In 2011, Riess and Schmidt, along with Saul Perlmutter
of the Supernova Cosmology Project
, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics
for this work.
Physical cosmology
Physical cosmology, as a branch of astronomy, is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation and evolution. For most of human history, it was a branch of metaphysics and religion...
collaboration which used Type Ia Supernovae to chart the expansion of the Universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
. The team was formed in 1994 by Brian P. Schmidt
Brian P. Schmidt
Brian P. Schmidt is a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist at the Australian National University Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and is widely known for his research in using supernovae as Cosmological...
, then a post-doctoral research associate at Harvard University, and Nicholas B. Suntzeff
Nicholas B. Suntzeff
Nicholas B. Suntzeff holds the Mitchell/Heep/Munnerlyn Chair of Astronomy in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Texas A&M University and is Director of the Astronomy Program. He is an observational astronomer specializing in cosmology, supernovae, stellar populations, and astronomical...
, a staff astronomer at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is a complex of astronomical telescopes and instruments located at 30.169 S, 70.804 W, approximately 80 km to the East of La Serena, Chile at an altitude of 2200 metres. The complex is part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory along with Kitt...
in Chile. The original team first proposed for the research on September 29, 1994 in a proposal called A Pilot Project to Search for Distant Type Ia Supernova to the CTIO Inter-American Observatory. The original team as co-listed on the first observing proposal was: Nicholas Suntzeff (PI); Brian Schmidt
Brian Schmidt
Brian L. Schmidt is a music composer for various video games and pinball games. He began in the video game music and sound industry in 1987 as a composer/sound designer and programmer for Williams Electronic Games in Chicago writing music and creating sound effects for pinball machines and coin...
(Co-I); (other Co-Is) R. Chris Smith, Robert Schommer
Robert Schommer
Robert A. Schommer was an American observational astronomer. He was a professor at Rutgers University and later a project scientist for the U.S. office of the Gemini Observatory Project at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile...
, Mark M. Phillips
Mark M. Phillips
Mark M. Phillips is internationally recognized astronomer in the observational studies of all classes of supernovae. He is well known for his work on SN1986G, SN1987A, the Calán/Tololo Supernova Survey, the High-Z Supernova Search Team, and especially for the Phillips relationship...
, Mario Hamuy
Mario Hamuy
Mario Hamuy is a Chilean Astronomer and Professor of Astronomy at the University of Chile and Cerro Calan Observatory. He is well known for his observational work on all classes of supernovae, especially the use of Type Ia and Type II supernovae as measures of cosmic distance. He was a student in...
, Roberto Aviles, Jose Maza, Adam Riess
Adam Riess
Adam Guy Riess is an American astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute and is widely known for his research in using supernovae as Cosmological Probes. Riess shared both the 2006 Shaw Prize in Astronomy and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul...
, Robert Kirshner
Robert Kirshner
Robert Kirshner is the Clowes Professor of Science in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University. Kirshner has worked in several areas of astronomy including the physics of supernovae, supernova remnants, the Large-scale structure of the cosmos, and the use of Supernovae...
, Jason Spiromilio, and Bruno Leibundgut. The original project was awarded four nights of telescope time on the Victor M. Blanco Telescope
Victor M. Blanco Telescope
The Víctor M. Blanco Telescope, also known as the Blanco 4m, is a 4m telescope located at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. Commissioned in 1974 and completed in 1976, this telescope is similar to the Mayall 4m telescope located on Kitt Peak. In 1995 it was dedicated and named in...
on the nights of February 25, 1995, and March 6,24, and 29 1995. The pilot project led to the discovery of supernova SN1995Y ...
The team expanded to roughly 20 astronomers located in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Chile. They used the Victor M. Blanco Telescope
Victor M. Blanco Telescope
The Víctor M. Blanco Telescope, also known as the Blanco 4m, is a 4m telescope located at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. Commissioned in 1974 and completed in 1976, this telescope is similar to the Mayall 4m telescope located on Kitt Peak. In 1995 it was dedicated and named in...
of CTIO to discover Type Ia supernova
Type Ia supernova
A Type Ia supernova is a sub-category of supernovae, which in turn are a sub-category of cataclysmic variable stars, that results from the violent explosion of a white dwarf star. A white dwarf is the remnant of a star that has completed its normal life cycle and has ceased nuclear fusion...
e out to redshifts of z=0.9. The discoveries were verified with spectra taken mostly from the telescopes of the Keck Observatory, and the European Southern Observatory
European Southern Observatory
The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries...
.
In a 1998 study led by Adam Riess
Adam Riess
Adam Guy Riess is an American astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute and is widely known for his research in using supernovae as Cosmological Probes. Riess shared both the 2006 Shaw Prize in Astronomy and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul...
, the High-z Team became the first to publish evidence that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating
Accelerating universe
The accelerating universe is the observation that the universe appears to be expanding at an increasing rate, which in formal terms means that the cosmic scale factor a has a positive second derivative, implying that the velocity at which a given galaxy is receding from us should be continually...
(Riess et al. 1998, AJ, 116, 1009, submitted March 13, 1998, accepted May 1998). The team was managed by Brian P. Schmidt
Brian P. Schmidt
Brian P. Schmidt is a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist at the Australian National University Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and is widely known for his research in using supernovae as Cosmological...
of the Mount Stromlo Observatory
Mount Stromlo Observatory
Mount Stromlo Observatory located just outside of Canberra, Australia, is part of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University .-History:...
, which is part of the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
. The team later spawned Project ESSENCE led by Christopher Stubbs
Christopher Stubbs
Christopher Stubbs is an experimental physicist currently on the faculty at Harvard University in both the Department of Physics and the Department of Astronomy. He is a former Chair of Harvard's Department of Physics.-Biography:...
of Harvard University and the Higher-z Team led by Adam Riess
Adam Riess
Adam Guy Riess is an American astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute and is widely known for his research in using supernovae as Cosmological Probes. Riess shared both the 2006 Shaw Prize in Astronomy and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul...
of Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute.
In 2011, Riess and Schmidt, along with Saul Perlmutter
Saul Perlmutter
Saul Perlmutter is an American astrophysicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of...
of the Supernova Cosmology Project
Supernova Cosmology Project
The Supernova Cosmology Project is one of two research teams that determined the likelihood of an accelerating universe and therefore a positive Cosmological constant, using data from the redshift of Type Ia supernovae...
, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
for this work.
Members
- Mount Stromlo ObservatoryMount Stromlo ObservatoryMount Stromlo Observatory located just outside of Canberra, Australia, is part of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University .-History:...
and the Australian National UniversityAustralian National UniversityThe Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
- Brian P. SchmidtBrian P. SchmidtBrian P. Schmidt is a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist at the Australian National University Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and is widely known for his research in using supernovae as Cosmological...
- Brian P. Schmidt
- CTIO
- Nicholas Suntzeff
- Robert SchommerRobert SchommerRobert A. Schommer was an American observational astronomer. He was a professor at Rutgers University and later a project scientist for the U.S. office of the Gemini Observatory Project at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile...
- R. Chris Smith
- Mario HamuyMario HamuyMario Hamuy is a Chilean Astronomer and Professor of Astronomy at the University of Chile and Cerro Calan Observatory. He is well known for his observational work on all classes of supernovae, especially the use of Type Ia and Type II supernovae as measures of cosmic distance. He was a student in...
(1994–1997)
- Las Campanas ObservatoryLas Campanas ObservatoryLas Campanas Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science It was established in 1969 and remains the primary observing site of that institution. The headquarters is located in La Serena, Chile and the observatory is in the southern Atacama...
- Mark M. PhillipsMark M. PhillipsMark M. Phillips is internationally recognized astronomer in the observational studies of all classes of supernovae. He is well known for his work on SN1986G, SN1987A, the Calán/Tololo Supernova Survey, the High-Z Supernova Search Team, and especially for the Phillips relationship...
(1994–2000)
- Mark M. Phillips
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
- Alejandro Clocchiatti (starting in 1996)
- University of Chile
- Jose Maza (1994–1997)
- European Southern ObservatoryEuropean Southern ObservatoryThe European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries...
- Bruno Leibundgut
- Jason Spyromilio
- University of HawaiiUniversity of HawaiiThe University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
- John Tonry (starting in 1996)
- University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
- Alexei FilippenkoAlexei FilippenkoAlexei Vladimir Filippenko is an American astrophysicist and professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. Filippenko received a Bachelor of Arts in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1979 and a Ph.D...
(starting in 1996) - Weidong Li (starting in 1999)
- Alexei Filippenko
- Space Telescope Science InstituteSpace Telescope Science InstituteThe Space Telescope Science Institute is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope and for the James Webb Space Telescope...
- Adam RiessAdam RiessAdam Guy Riess is an American astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute and is widely known for his research in using supernovae as Cosmological Probes. Riess shared both the 2006 Shaw Prize in Astronomy and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul...
- Ron Gilliland (1996–2000)
- Adam Riess
- University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
- Christopher StubbsChristopher StubbsChristopher Stubbs is an experimental physicist currently on the faculty at Harvard University in both the Department of Physics and the Department of Astronomy. He is a former Chair of Harvard's Department of Physics.-Biography:...
(starting in 1995) - Craig HoganCraig HoganCraig Hogan is a Professor of Astronomy and Physics at the University of Chicago and he is the director of the Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics....
(starting in 1995) - David Reiss (1995–1999)
- Alan Diercks (1995–1999)
- Christopher Stubbs
- Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
- Christopher StubbsChristopher StubbsChristopher Stubbs is an experimental physicist currently on the faculty at Harvard University in both the Department of Physics and the Department of Astronomy. He is a former Chair of Harvard's Department of Physics.-Biography:...
(starting in 2003) - Robert KirshnerRobert KirshnerRobert Kirshner is the Clowes Professor of Science in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics at Harvard University. Kirshner has worked in several areas of astronomy including the physics of supernovae, supernova remnants, the Large-scale structure of the cosmos, and the use of Supernovae...
- Thomas Matheson (starting 1999)
- Saurabh Jha (starting 1997)
- Peter Challis
- Christopher Stubbs
- University of Notre DameUniversity of Notre DameThe University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
- Peter Garnavich
- Stephen HollandStephen HollandStephen Roy Holland OAM is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the 1970s who won a bronze medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal...
(starting 2000)