Seminars and Colloquia at ESO Santiago

Over the last two decades, high-cadence rolling surveys (e.g., PS1, ZTF, ATLAS) have given us large statistical samples of supernovae (SNe) and other transients in the low-z range up to redshifts of 1. With JWST, going deeper and redder, we can now expand transient astronomy into the early, high-z universe. Such unique observation on high-z transients offers us a direct approach for probing the IMF at high-z, the epoch of reionization, as well as exploring the cosmological expansion history. Those sample can also provide insights into the rare types of transients (e.g., Pair-Instability SNe and Superluminous SNe) and could deepen our understanding in high energy physics and explosion mechanisms underneath.  I will discuss our recent discovery of more than 100 SNe up to z~5 with the JADES and COSMOS project, their spectroscopic follow-up, and what we can expect in the future with both JWST and Roman.

Gamma-ray bursts fascinate astronomers both for their astounding power and for their effectiveness as cosmological probes. Spectroscopy of their bright optical counterparts allows to dissect the interstellar and circumgalactic medium of high-redshift star-forming galaxies, testing their gas, metals, dust, and molecular content. At the same time, also thanks to a new suite of instruments, we have been discovering a richer diversity of progenitor systems - with the two main players being collapsing massive stars and binary compact object mergers. I will highlight the recent progress and surprises in the field achieved via the "Stargate" program at the VLT.

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