Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) play a starring role in our view of the Universe.  Observations of SN Ia led to two cosmological surprises: the discovery of the accelerating Universe and the Hubble Constant tension. Despite the cosmological utility of SN Ia, we still lack a detailed understanding of their progenitor systems and explosion physics, and how they fit into the broader class of white dwarf supernovae. I will present recent advances in observations of white dwarf supernovae, highlighting new data from JWST that reveal both surprising homogeneity and diversity. I will also discuss how this astrophysical uncertainty impacts supernova cosmology, including with upcoming flagship projects like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Speaker: Saurabh Jha (Rutgers University)

The 2024 Fall Colloquium talks are held on Wednesdays at 3:00 PM. This colloquium is hosted by STScI and will be held as an in-person and virtual event.

You may join in person at STScI’s John N. Bahcall Auditorium or virtually on STScI's Live Science Events Facebook page.

Please direct questions or comments to contact above. The 2024 Fall Colloquium Committee members are: Nestor Espinoza (STScI), Joel Green (STScI), Nick Indriolo (STScI), Elena Manjavacas (STScI), Namrata Roy (JHU), Kevin Schlaufman (JHU), Ethan Vishniac (JHU).