Supernovae

Brian Schmidt studied as an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, where he worked on discovering supernovae with the CCD Transit Instrument under John McGraw. He continued his graduate studies in Astronomy at Harvard University, with Robert Kirshner as his thesis advisor, from 1989-1993. He stayed on at Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow before moving to The Australian National University in 1995. When he attended a summer school in Les Houches, France, in 1990, on Supernova, he met many of the supernova greats and marks this as his induction into supernova astronomy. Schmidt started the High-z Supernova Search Team in 1994 at the age of 27. He wrote the supernova search software, much of the simulation software, as well as one of several cosmological fitting software used by the team and led them to their 1998 discovery of the accelerating universe. In this series of interviews, Schmidt discusses the spaces of scientific work, supernovae as scientific objects, and scientific visualization. Schmidt’s outstanding good humor is infectious, and he is an astronomer and an observer highly respected within the profession.

Galaxy cluster cataloging, and toward finding supernovae started in 1984 while professor in Durham, England. Collaboration with Danish astronomers, using telescope at European Southern Observatory in Chile on this search. Thus, with ground-based telescopes obtained the spectra of the supernovae and measured their redshifts. Result: Nature paper of 1989. Collaboration with The Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP) beginning in 1993. Carl Pennypacker first PI of SCP. Camera at Anglo-Australian Telescope (1000 by 2000 pixels, as opposed to 600 by 500 pixels of Danish camera). Euphoria of finding supernova at record-breaking distance, at redshift of 0.45. Turning point in collaboration around 1994, 1995. On skepticism and science; Lambda, the cosmological constant, and the accelerating universe; SCP and High-z teams, the UK National Meeting (with George F. Stathew and Martin Reese), and talk at Cambridge Mathematics Institute; use of Hubble Space Telescope.

Deals with the events leading up to and the discovery of the Crab Nebula Pulsar. Comments on his education at Cornell University and switch to astrophysics. Teams up with Michael Disney at Steward Observatory for their first observation on a 36-inch telescope. Discovery of the Vela Supernova remnant pulsar convinces them to concentrate on the Crab Nebula rather than white dwarfs. Discussion of preparations, of observations, and of the discovery. Reaction to the discovery, effect on future work. Also mentioned are: Robert McAllister, Don Taylor, and Dr. Weyman.

In this interview Robert Cahn discusses his tenure and support of the Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP) as director (1991-1996) of the physics division at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL). Reviews of the SCP. Saul Perlmutter as building a new field of research in distant supernovae. Astrophysics in Berkeley. Style of research in the physics division at LBL. On discoveries as gradual and the importance of statistics and systematics. Pentaquark discovery as an example of error. Physical Review's policy of what constitute 'evidence' (three Sigma) and what constitutes a 'discovery' (five Sigma). Historical example of the discovery of the neutron. Historical example of the discovery of the Psi particle. Two milestones in the discovery of positive Lambda: the first distant supernova and then, finding batches of supernovae. Use of the Hubble Space Telescope by High-z team and SCP. Controversy heated because of the possibility of winning the Nobel prize.

In this interview, Geoffrey Burbidge discusses his life and career.  Topics discussed include: his family and childhood; Bristol University; Nevill Mott; University College, London; Harrie Massey; David Robert Bates; theoretical physics seminars at Cambridge University; Richard Feymnan; Freeman Dyson; Dick Dalitz; Abdus Salam; Nicholas Kemmer; becoming interested in astronomy and astrophysics via Margaret Burbidge; Royal Astronomical Society; Clive Gregory; research into stellar parallax, stellar atmospheres; Herbert Dingle; Auger effect; Otto Struve; Harvard University; Bart Bok; Donald Menzel; Harlow Shapley; Yerkes Observatory; development of radio astronomy; I. I. Rabi and big bang skepticism; Chandrasekhar; Gerard Kuiper; Enrico Fermi; Cavendish Laboratory, Martin Ryle; nucleosynthesis; Kapitza Club; Willie Fowler; Fred Hoyle; stellar evolution; steady state cosmology; red shift; Erwin Finlay-Freundlich; Max Born; Mount Wilson Observatory; Allan Sandage; Milt Humason; Ira Bowen; status at women at Hale observatories and at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech); Edwin Hubble; Walter Baade; synchrotron radiation; Rudolph Minkowski; Californium and supernovae; Halton Arp; Hans Suess; Vera Rubin's work on anisotropy; quasars; galaxy formation.