Feasibility of Measuring the Cosmological Constant Lambda and Mass Density Omega Using Type IA Supernovae
Year: 1995
Type: article
Abstract: We explore the feasibility of resurrecting the apparent magnitude-redshift relation for a "standard candle" to measure the cosmological constant and mass density. We show that Type Ia supernovae, if measured with 0.15 mag uncertainty out to a redshift of z = 1, may provide a good standard candle or calibrated candle for this purpose. The recent discovery of probable Type Ia supernovae in the redshift range z = 0.3-0.5 (Perlmutter et al. 1994, 1995) indicates that the flux of optical photons from these events can be measured this accurately. The seven distant supernovae discovered to date do not by themselves distinguish among different cosmological models; however, the further discovery of about 50 Type Ia supernovae at redshifts in the range 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 1.0 could strongly constrain the allowed range of these parameters. We estimate that the follow-up photometry necessary for this measurement would be on the order of 20-70 hr of time on a 10 m class telescope at a site with good seeing.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
DOI: 10.1086/176113
Authors: Ariel Goobar, Saul Perlmutter
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2054817944