A Type Ia Supernova at Redshift 1.55 in Hubble Space Telescope Infrared Observations from CANDELS

• Published in: arXiv.org 2012-01
• Main Authors: Rodney, Steven A, Riess, Adam G, Dahlen, Tomas, Louis-Gregory Strolger, Ferguson, Henry C, Hjorth, Jens, Frederiksen, Teddy F, Weiner, Benjamin J, Mobasher, Bahram, Casertano, Stefano, Jones, David O, Challis, Peter, Faber, S M, Filippenko, Alexei V, Garnavich, Peter, Or Graur, Grogin, Norman A, Hayden, Brian, Jha, Saurabh W, Kirshner, Robert P, Kocevski, Dale, Koekemoer, Anton, McCully, Curtis, Patel, Brandon, Rajan, Abhijith, Scarlata, Claudia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Classification; Constraint modelling; Field cameras; Galaxies; Hubble deep field; Hubble Space Telescope; Infrared detectors; Infrared spectroscopy; Infrared telescopes; Light curve; Photometry; Red shift; Space telescopes; Spectrum analysis; Supernovae
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1201.2470

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.