Classification

Supernovae are classified based on their spectra. Depending on the presence/absence of

Hydrogen lines as well as Silicon, Iron and Helium Supernovae are classified in Type I and II (and in sub-classes afterward).

In term of the progenitors, supernovae Type II and I b/c are thougt to be produced by the detonation ofa single massive progenitor star.

So we called them “core-collapse supernovae”.

Type Ia, instead are thought to derive from the detonation of a compact object (likely a white dwarf) in a binary system.

Importance as cosmological probes

SN Ia have been used as standard candle, since their luminosity at peak time, after opportune corrections, is independent from the distance.

Thanks to larger and larger datasets of supernovae Ia, like Palomar Transient Factory, new advancement in this field have been done and will be done in the very near future.

Credit: Maryam Modjaz