Supernovae: A Survey of Current Research

Abstract

The kinematical method of determining distances to supernovae is briefly reviewed. A program to compute the required continuum flux from model atmospheres of Type II supernovae is outlined. The results of a perturbed gray-body calculation are presented to indicate qualitatively some of the important features to be expected. It is found that if the contribution of scattering to the opacity is greater than that of true absorption (as seems likely), the flux is diluted, which tends to increase the derived value of the Hubble constant. Fortunately, it appears that the Balmer jump may be a sensitive indicator of this opacity ratio.