The Lick Observatory Supernova Search, and Follow-Up Studies of Supernovae"

The Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) conducted with the 0.76-m Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) has been by far the world's most successful search for nearby supernovae, having discovered over 700 of them during the past decade. The search and its results will be described. LOSS supernova rates as a function of host-galaxy Hubble type will be presented. As an aside, KAIT's utility in rapidly obtaining follow-up observations of the optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts will also be illustrated. Finally, some follow-up studies of supernovae will be described, concentrating on several objects having massive progenitors. The extremely powerful SN 2006gy is perhaps the first pair-instability SN ever observed and could be a link to the earliest stars. SN 2006jc is a peculiar Type Ib supernova that had a luminous outburst 2 years before explosion and whose progenitor was probably a Wolf-Rayet star.

Dr. Filippenko, known to many of you, has been widely recognized as one of the best speakers, educators and teachers in our field, as well as for achieving numerous extremely important advances in astrophysics.

AMNH will sponsor the reception. We will have a lunch as well, which unfortunately due to budget constraints will have to be paid for by the participants, with sincere apologies. Please let Gwen know whether you wish to attend. Also please let us know if you would like to speak with Alex during the day prior to his talk.

For those without AMNH badges, the closest entrance to the Linder Theater is on 77th Street between Columbus and Central Park West. For the time being this is a staff only entrance, but the guards will be aware of the talk and will let you in and direct you to the theater. _