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SUMMARY:Superluminous supernovae - cosmic origins and evolution - Stephen 
 Smartt (Queen's University Belfast)
DTSTART:20170601T150000Z
DTEND:20170601T160000Z
UID:TALK72248@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Simon Hodgkin
DESCRIPTION:A rare type of supernovae have been found in recent wide field
  surveys that are 20-100 times brighter than normal thermonuclear and core
 -collapse supernovae. The origin of this remarkable luminosity is not yet 
 firmly established and there are currently three competing\ntheories\, all
  involving massive stars. The leading model that best matches the various 
 observational constraints is a supernova powered by a rapidly spinning mag
 netic neutron star. Accretion onto a black hole formed after core collapse
  provides similar energy output.  The\nexplosions appear to exclusively oc
 cur in dwarf galaxies\, indicating that their progenitor stars are of low 
 metallicity.  I will discuss recent results from Pan-STARRS\, PESSTO and o
 ther surveys and show how\nthese supernovae are being used as novel probes
  of the high redshift universe.
LOCATION:Sackler Lecture Theatre\, IoA (tea at 3:30 pm)
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