arXiv:1810.09476v1 [astro-ph.CO] 22 Oct 2018 2 Saunders et al.Type Ia supernova cosmology depends on the ability to fit and standardize observations of supernova magnitudes with an empirical model. We present here a series of new models of Type Ia Supernova spectral time series that capture a greater amount of supernova diversity than possible with the models that are currently customary. These are entitled SuperNova Empirical MOdels (SNEMO a) ).The models are constructed using spectrophotometric time series from 172 individual supernovae from the Nearby Supernova Factory, comprising more than 2000 spectra. Using the available observations, Gaussian Processes are used to predict a full spectral time series for each supernova. A matrix is constructed from the spectral time series of all the supernovae, and Expectation Maximization Factor Analysis is used to calculate the principal components of the data. K-fold cross-validation then determines the selection of model parameters and accounts for color variation in the data. Based on this process, the final models are trained on supernovae that have been dereddened using the Fitzpatrick and Massa extinction relation. Three final models are presented here: SNEMO2, a twocomponent model for comparison with current Type Ia models; SNEMO7, a seven component model chosen for standardizing supernova magnitudes which results in a total dispersion of 0.100 mag for a validation set of supernovae, of which 0.087 mag is unexplained (a total dispersion of 0.113 mag with unexplained dispersion of 0.097 mag is found for the total set of training and validation supernovae); and SNEMO15, a comprehensive 15 component model that maximizes the amount of spectral time series behavior captured.

We show how spectra of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at maximum light can be used to improve cosmological distance estimates. In a companion article, we used manifold learning to build a three-dimensional parameterization of the intrinsic diversity of SNe Ia at maximum light that we call the “Twins Embedding.” In this article, we discuss how the Twins Embedding can be used to improve the standardization of SNe Ia. With a single spectrophotometrically calibrated spectrum near maximum light, we can standardize our sample of SNe Ia with an rms of 0.101 ± 0.007 mag, which corresponds to 0.084 ± 0.009 mag if peculiar velocity contributions are removed and to 0.073 ± 0.008 mag if a larger reference sample were obtained. Our techniques can standardize the full range of SNe Ia, including those typically labeled as peculiar and often rejected from other analyses. We find that traditional light-curve width + color standardization such as SALT2 is not sufficient. The Twins Embedding identifies a subset of SNe Ia, including, but not limited to, 91T-like SNe Ia whose SALT2 distance estimates are biased by 0.229 ± 0.045 mag. Standardization using the Twins Embedding also significantly decreases host-galaxy correlations. We recover a host mass step of 0.040 ± 0.020 mag compared to 0.092 ± 0.026 mag for SALT2 standardization on the same sample of SNe Ia. These biases in traditional standardization methods could significantly impact future cosmology analyses if not properly taken into account.

The Large Array Survey Telescope (LAST) is a wide-field visible-light telescope array designed to explore the variable and transient sky with a high cadence. LAST will be composed of 48, 28 cm f/2.2 telescopes (32 already installed) equipped with full-frame backside-illuminated cooled CMOS detectors. Each telescope provides a field of view (FoV) of 7.4 deg2 with 1.″25 pix−1, while the system FoV is 355 deg2 in 2.9 Gpix. The total collecting area of LAST, with 48 telescopes, is equivalent to a 1.9 m telescope. The cost-effectiveness of the system (i.e., probed volume of space per unit time per unit cost) is about an order of magnitude higher than most existing and under-construction sky surveys. The telescopes are mounted on 12 separate mounts, each carrying four telescopes. This provides significant flexibility in operating the system. The first LAST system is under construction in the Israeli Negev Desert, with 32 telescopes already deployed. We present the system overview and performances based on the system commissioning data. The B p 5σ limiting magnitude of a single 28 cm telescope is about 19.6 (21.0), in 20 s (20 × 20 s). Astrometric two-axes precision (rms) at the bright-end is about 60 (30) mas in 20 s (20 × 20 s), while absolute photometric calibration, relative to GAIA, provides ∼10 millimag accuracy. Relative photometric precision, in a single 20 s (320 s) image, at the bright-end measured over a timescale of about 60 minutes is about 3 (1) millimag. We discuss the system science goals, data pipelines, and the observatory control system in companion publications.

During the summer of 2013, a 4-month spectroscopic campaign took place to observe the variabilities in three Wolf-Rayet stars. The spectroscopic data have been analyzed for WR 134 (WN6b), to better understand its behaviour and long-term periodicity, which we interpret as arising from corotating interaction regions (CIRs) in the wind. By analyzing the variability of the He II λ5411 emission line, the previously identified period was refined to P = 2.255 ± 0.008 (s.d.) days. The coherency time of the variability, which we associate with the lifetime of the CIRs in the wind, was deduced to be 40 ± 6 days, or ∼ 18 cycles, by cross-correlating the variability patterns as a function of time. When comparing the phased observational grayscale difference images with theoretical grayscales previously calculated from models including CIRs in an optically thin stellar wind, we find that two CIRs were likely present. A separation in longitude of ∆φ 90 • was determined between the two CIRs and we suggest that the different maximum velocities that they reach indicate that they emerge from different latitudes. We have also been able to detect observational signatures of the CIRs in other spectral lines (C IV λλ5802,5812 and He I λ5876). Furthermore, a DAC was found to be present simultaneously with the CIR signatures detected in the He I λ5876 emission line which is consistent with the proposed geometry of the large-scale structures in the wind. Small-scale structures also show a presence in the wind, simultaneously with the larger scale structures, showing that they do in fact co-exist.

We study the spectral diversity of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at maximum light using high signal-to-noise spectrophotometry of 173 SNe Ia from the Nearby Supernova Factory. We decompose the diversity of these spectra into different extrinsic and intrinsic components, and we construct a nonlinear parameterization of the intrinsic diversity of SNe Ia that preserves pairings of "twin" SNe Ia. We call this parameterization the "Twins Embedding." Our methodology naturally handles highly nonlinear variability in spectra, such as changes in the photosphere expansion velocity, and uses the full spectrum rather than being limited to specific spectral line strengths, ratios, or velocities. We find that the time evolution of SNe Ia near maximum light is remarkably similar, with 84.6% of the variance in common to all SNe Ia. After correcting for brightness and color, the intrinsic variability of SNe Ia is mostly restricted to specific spectral lines, and we find intrinsic dispersions as low as ∼0.02 mag between 6600 and 7200 Å. With a nonlinear three-dimensional model plus one dimension for color, we can explain 89.2% of the intrinsic diversity in our sample of SNe Ia, which includes several different kinds of "peculiar" SNe Ia. A linear model requires seven dimensions to explain a comparable fraction of the intrinsic diversity. We show how a wide range of previously established indicators of diversity in SNe Ia can be recovered from the Twins Embedding. In a companion article, we discuss how these results can be applied to the standardization of SNe Ia for cosmology.