SNLS: Realtime Pipeline and Current Status
Résumé
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have been used as standardized candles to discover the acceleration of the universe, and they currently provide the most direct evidence for the existence of an unknown ``dark energy'' driving this expansion. The 5-year Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) is currently on track to deliver 700 spectroscopically-confirmed SNe Ia with well-sampled light curves by 2008, making it the most successful high-redshift supernova study in history. The SNLS uses a rolling search to discover and build well-sampled light curves for SNe, with follow-up spectroscopy done using Gemini, the VLT, Keck, and Magellan. After only 2 years of operation, the SNLS has spectroscopically confirmed more than 200 SNe Ia at redshifts between 0.2