Speaker: Charlotte Wood (ISU)

Host: Charles Kerton

Title: Echoes of Silence: What Scattered Light Echoes Can Tell Us About Supernovae

Abstract: Light echoes are particularly powerful tools for studying transients and the dust of their host galaxies. In particular, light echoes can 1) provide a method for typing ancient transients, 2) enable a three-dimensional map of the dust distribution in the host galaxy, 3) give an independent measure of distance to the transient, and 4) provide insights into the progenitor systems of known transients. In this talk, I will discuss the progress made on a search for light echoes around type Ia supernovae in nearby (d < 50 Mpc) spiral galaxies, present a newly discovered light echo around SN 2012cg along with what we hope to learn from it, and present newly discovered light echoes in the Tarantula Nebula with no identified source.