Transients with fast brightness variance in UV/optical wavelengths ("fast transients," such as early-phase supernovae, fast blue optical transients, kilonovae) are of great interest in astronomy. Although great progresses in time-domain astronomy have been made via wide, shallow, and day(s)-cadence surveys, the limited observing depth and low time resolution make traditional time-domain surveys difficult for fast-transient studies. In this talk, I will introduce our previous/ongoing studies of early-phase type Ia supernovae and fast blue optical transients via deep (Subaru/HSC) and high-cadence (Kiso/Tomo-e) wide-field surveys. As one of the most powerful transient survey facilities in the 2020s, the 2.5m Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST, or "Mozi") took the first-light image on Sep 17th 2023 and started a pilot survey recently. I will then briefly talk about transient studies through the ongoing WFST pilot survey and the role that WFST will play in the golden era of time-domain astronomy.
BIO
Prof. Ji-an Jiang graduated from the College of Physical Science and Technology, Central China Normal University in 2013, and obtained PhD from the University of Tokyo in March 2019. After that he worked as postdoctoral fellow in Kavli IPMU for three years and then moved to National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) as a research fellow in 2022. Since April 2023 he joined the Department of Astronomy, USTC. He mainly works on supernova and related transient studies by leading/joining wide-field transient survey projects. He has been awarded about 2000-hours ground and space telescope time since 2014. Currently he is a core member of the 2.5-m Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST, or "Mozi") project and in charge of the design of observation strategy, management of WFST survey and follow-up observations, and the supernova science panel of WFST.
Host: Song Huang
