The Kepler/K2 Supernova Cosmology Experiment

Talk presented at ESA's 2018 XMM-Newton Science Workshop in Madrid on June 15th, 2018.

Transcript

1. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) The Kepler/K2 Supernova Experiment Geert Barentsen Kepler/K2 GO Director
 NASA Ames Research Center geert.barentsen@nasa.gov
2. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) Over the past year, the Kepler Space Telescope has monitored over 50,000 galaxies using uninterrupted, high-precision, high-cadence optical photometry. This public data set is known to include at least
 40 supernovae which await analysis.
3. Kepler was launched on March 6, 2009 0.95-m Schmidt 100 Mpixel array (100 deg2)
 1 or 30 min cadence wide passband (V+R+I)
4. Kepler’s prime mission observed a single field in Cygnus from 2009 through 2013
5. Since 2014, Kepler visits a new field every 3 months ecliptic This is called the K2 Mission
6. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) K2’s science has been diverse and community-led • Planets around bright and nearby stars
 ex. GJ 9827, TRAPPIST-1. • Rotation and activity in young and old star clusters
 ex. Taurus, Pleiades, Beehive, Lagoon Nebula, M67. • Hundreds of pulsating White Dwarfs and Cataclysmic Variables
 => continuous monitoring across 80-day periods
7. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) Evidence for a Quasi-Periodic Oscillation in the Kepler light curve of an active galaxy (Smith+ 2018) => The frequency is thought to be predictive of black hole mass.
8. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) In 2015, Kepler caught a supernova with a Type Ia shape, but a rise time 10x faster than other Type Ia’s (Rest+ 2018)
9. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) Despite Type Ia supernovae being used to discover the accelerating expansion of the Universe, we still do not understand the nature of the progenitor system, e.g. • White Dwarf accreting from a companion?
 (single degenerate scenario) • Merger of two White Dwarfs?
 (double degenerate scenario) Do multiple scenarios lead to SN Ia’s?
 In what proportion?!
10. * Observational tests for the single degenerate scenario arise from the fact that the companion is struck by ejecta from the supernova shortly after the explosion Animation: NASA/JPL-Caltech
11. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) During Kepler’s original mission, three Type Ia SN were observed. (Olling+ 2015) Result: none showed excess flux in the early-rise lightcurve. Were they all double degenerate progenitors, or single degenerate systems with a particular line of sight? The K2 Supernova Experiment aims to increase the sample ten-fold.
12. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) Dec 2017 - May 2018: “K2 Supernova Experiment” => Kepler studied 50,000 galaxies in two fields across 6 months, accompanied by multi-color monitoring from the ground.
 (Including PanSTARRS and ASASSN.)
14. http://lightkurve.keplerscience.org We recently released new Python tools and tutorials for Kepler data analysis
15. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) Kepler’s recent surveys of galaxies is able to add a new dimension to the study of high energy transients. The data are public and await analysis; including Supernovae, AGN, and CVs. Significant opportunities exist for future exoplanet transit surveys!
16. Geert Barentsen (@GeertHub) 
 keplergo@mail.arc.nasa.gov
 
 https://keplerscience.arc.nasa.gov