The Caltech Core-Collapse Project (CCCP)

Abstract

The cosmological utility of type Ia Supernovae prompted numerous studies of these events, and they are now well characterized observationally, both as individual objects and as a population. In contrast, all other types of supernovae (i.e. core-collapse events) are not as well observationally characterized. While some individual events have been studied in great detail (e.g. SN 1987A or SN 1998bw), the global properties of the core-collapse SN population are little known. However, in recent years, major drivers for change have emerged, among them the verification of the connection between core-collapse supernovae and long-duration Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), the possible utility of some core-collapse supernovae (type II-P) as independent cosmological probes, and studies of core-collapse supernovae as high redshift targets for missions like the Supernova Acceleration Probe and the James Webb Space Telescope. The Caltech Core-Collapse Project is a large observational program using the Hale 200 inch and the robotic 60 inch telescopes at Palomar observatory to obtain optical photometry, spectroscopy and IR photometry of ~50 nearby core-collapse supernovae. The program is designed to provide a complete sample of core-collapse events, with well-defined selection criteria and uniform, high-quality optical/IR observations, as well as radio and X-ray light curves for some events. We will use this sample to characterize the little-studied properties of core-collapse supernovae as a population. The sample will be used as a comparison set for studies of supernovae associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts, to promote and calibrate the use of supernovae II-P for cosmography, and to set the stage for investigations of supernovae at high-z using coming space missions such as the Supernova Acceleration Probe and the James Webb Space Telescope.