GSOC 2014 ideas for TARDIS

A bit of background information

A supernova marks the brilliant death throes of a star, during which it outshines its entire galaxy. It not only marks death, though: supernova ejecta change the evolution of the universe and enable the formation of planets and life as we know it. From the iron in your blood to the gold in your jewellery, supernovae return heavy elements assembled from the primordial hydrogen and helium left after the big bang.

There are still many mysteries surrounding supernovae (e.g. their precise origins, inner workings, ...). One way to study these objects in more detail is to split the light coming from these objects into its components (like using a prism) and analysing the resulting data (which is called a spectrum).