First results from supernova diversity and rate evolution (SUDARE) survey at VST

Abstract

Despite the key role played by Supernovae (SNe) in discovering the accelerating expansion of the Universe, there are still fundamental questions to answer about their progenitor systems and explosion mechanisms. Furthermore the discovery of a significant number of both exceptionally bright and extremely faint SNe, as well as peculiar events, suggests the existence of an unexpected diversity. Important clues on the SN progenitors can be derived by examining the rate of type Ia and core collapse SNe. With this goal in mind we started the SUpernova Diversity And Rate Evolution (SUDARE) programme currently running at the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). We present a measurement of the volumetric SN rates as a function of redshift for the first 2 years of data from SUDARE.