Universe

Table of Contents

The High-Z Supernova Search
Links and Resources

These pages are based on material from Brian Schmidt's High-Z SN Search Project pages and additional material at The Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics. The content has been repaginated and the text has been edited for clarity. Some graphics have been added. Others have been edited or redrawn. The Saul Permutter article from Physics Today, April 2003, was added to an overview from the leader of the Cosmology Project Team, which independently reached the same conclusions as Brian Schmidt and his team.

Michael Gallagher
29th May 2005

The High Red Shift Supernova Search

Introduction

Hello, my name is Brian Schmidt and this is my attempt to explain supernovae, and how we use them to measure the extent and fate of the Universe. I am an astronomer at the Australian National Universities' Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. We are located at Mount Stromlo Observatory, just outside of the Australian National Capital, Canberra. The observatory has telescopes at two sites, one at Mount Stromlo, and the other near Coonabarabran. I highly recommend coming for a short visit to see the sights if you are in the area.

The work described here is not just my work, but the collective effort of more than 20 people from around the globe with whom I work on the High-Z SN search. As the group's leader, I tend to get more than my fair share of the credit, but a project like this really represents the blood and sweat of many people. So if you are interested, have a browse, and learn about these powerful explosions and what they tell us about the ultimate fate of the Universe.