We present spectral and photometric observations of 10 type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the redshift range 0.16 ≤ z ≤ 0.62. The luminosity distances of these objects are determined by methods that employ relations between SN Ia luminosity and light curve shape. Combined with previous data from our High-Z Supernova Search Team (Garnavich et al. 1998;Schmidt et al. 1998) and Riess et al. (1998a), this expanded set of 16 high-redshift supernovae and a set of 34 nearby supernovae are used to place constraints on the following cosmological parameters: the Hubble constant (H 0 ), the mass density (Ω M ), the cosmological constant (i.e., the vacuum energy density, Ω Λ ), the deceleration parameter (q 0 ), and the dynamical age of the Universe (t 0 ). The distances of the high-redshift SNe Ia are, on average, 10% to 15% farther than expected in a low mass density (Ω M = 0.2) Universe without a cosmological constant. Different light curve fitting methods, SN Ia subsamples, and prior constraints unanimously favor eternally expanding models with positive cosmological constant (i.e., Ω Λ > 0) and a current acceleration of the expansion (i.e., q 0 < 0). With no prior constraint on mass density other than Ω M ≥ 0, the spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia are statistically consistent with q 0 < 0 at the 2.8σ -2and 3.9σ confidence levels, and with Ω Λ > 0 at the 3.0σ and 4.0σ confidence levels, for two different fitting methods respectively. Fixing a "minimal" mass density, Ω M = 0.2, results in the weakest detection, Ω Λ > 0 at the 3.0σ confidence level from one of the two methods. For a flat-Universe prior (Ω M + Ω Λ = 1), the spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia require Ω Λ > 0 at 7σ and 9σ formal significance for the two different fitting methods. A Universe closed by ordinary matter (i.e., Ω M = 1) is formally ruled out at the 7σ to 8σ confidence level for the two different fitting methods. We estimate the dynamical age of the Universe to be 14.2 ±1.5 Gyr including systematic uncertainties in the current Cepheid distance scale. We estimate the likely effect of several sources of systematic error, including progenitor and metallicity evolution, extinction, sample selection bias, local perturbations in the expansion rate, gravitational lensing, and sample contamination. Presently, none of these effects reconciles the data with Ω Λ = 0 and q 0 ≥ 0.

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We have discovered 16 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and have used them to provide the first conclusive evidence for cosmic deceleration that preceded the current epoch of cosmic acceleration. These objects, discovered during the course of the GOODS ACS Treasury program, include 6 of the 7 highest-redshift SNe Ia known, all at z > 1.25, and populate the Hubble diagram in unexplored territory. The luminosity distances to these objects, and to 170 previously reported SNe Ia, have been determined using empirical relations between light-curve shape and luminosity. A purely kinematic interpretation of the SN Ia sample provides evidence at the > 99% confidence level for a transition from deceleration to acceleration or similarly, strong evidence for a cosmic jerk. Using a simple model of the -2expansion history, the transition between the two epochs is constrained to be at z = 0.46 ± 0.13. The data are consistent with the cosmic concordance model of Ω M ≈ 0.3, Ω Λ ≈ 0.7 (χ 2 dof = 1.06), and are inconsistent with a simple model of evolution or dust as an alternative to dark energy. For a flat Universe with a cosmological constant, we measure Ω M = 0.29± 0.05 0.03 (equivalently, Ω Λ = 0.71). When combined with external flat-Universe constraints including the cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure, we find w = −1.02± 0.13 0.19 (and w < −0.76 at the 95% confidence level) for an assumed static equation of state of dark energy, P = wρc 2 . Joint constraints on both the recent equation of state of dark energy, w 0 , and its time evolution, dw/dz, are a factor of ∼ 8 more precise than its first estimate and twice as precise as those without the SNe Ia discovered with HST. Our constraints are consistent with the static nature of and value of w expected for a cosmological constant (i.e., w 0 = −1.0, dw/dz = 0), and are inconsistent with very rapid evolution of dark energy. We address consequences of evolving dark energy for the fate of the Universe.

We use the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to reduce the uncertainty in the local value of the Hubble constant from 3.3% to 2.4%. The bulk of this improvement comes from new near-infrared (NIR) observations of Cepheid variables in 11 host galaxies of recent type Ia supernovae (SNeIa), more than doubling the sample of reliable SNeIa having a Cepheid-calibrated distance to a total of 19; these in turn leverage the magnituderedshift relation based on ∼300 SNeIa at z<0.15. All 19 hosts as well as the megamaser system NGC 4258 have been observed with WFC3 in the optical and NIR, thus nullifying cross-instrument zeropoint errors in the relative distance estimates from Cepheids. Other noteworthy improvements include a 33% reduction in the systematic uncertainty in the maser distance to NGC 4258, a larger sample of Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a more robust distance to the LMC based on late-type detached eclipsing binaries (DEBs), HST observations of Cepheids in M31, and new HST-based trigonometric parallaxes for Milky Way (MW) Cepheids. We consider four geometric distance calibrations of Cepheids: (i) megamasers in NGC 4258, (ii) 8 DEBs in the LMC, (iii) 15 MW Cepheids with parallaxes measured with HST/FGS, HST/WFC3 spatial scanning and/or Hipparcos, and (iv) 2 DEBs in M31. The Hubble constant from each is 72.25±2.51, 72.04±2.67, 76.18±2.37, and 74.50±3.27 km s −1 Mpc −1 , respectively. Our best estimate of H 0 =73.24±1.74 km s −1 Mpc −1 combines the anchors NGC 4258, MW, and LMC, yielding a 2.4% determination (all quoted uncertainties include fully propagated statistical and systematic components). This value is 3.4σ higher than 66.93±0.62 km s −1 Mpc −1 predicted by ΛCDM with 3 neutrino flavors having a mass of 0.06eV and the new Planck data, but the discrepancy reduces to 2.1σ relative to the prediction of 69.3±0.7 km s −1 Mpc −1 based on the comparably precise combination of WMAP+ACT+SPT+BAO observations, suggesting that systematic uncertainties in CMB radiation measurements may play a role in the tension. If we take the conflict between Planck high-redshift measurements and our local determination of H 0 at face value, one plausible explanation could involve an additional source of dark radiation in the early universe in the range of ΔN eff ≈0.4-1. We anticipate further significant improvements in H 0 from upcoming parallax measurements of long-period MW Cepheids.

We present an improved determination of the Hubble constant from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of 70 long-period Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud. These were obtained with the same WFC3 photometric system used to measure extragalactic Cepheids in the hosts of Type Ia supernovae. Gyroscopic control of HST was employed to reduce overheads while collecting a large sample of widely-separated Cepheids. The Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation provides a zeropoint-independent link with 0.4% precision between the new 1.2% geometric distance to the LMC from Detached Eclipsing Binaries (DEBs) measured by Pietrzyński et al. (2019) and the luminosity of SNe Ia. Measurements and analysis of the LMC Cepheids were completed prior to knowledge of the new DEB LMC distance. Combined with a refined calibration of the count-rate linearity of WFC3-IR with 0.1% precision (Riess et al. 2019), these three improved elements together reduce the overall uncertainty in the geometric calibration of the Cepheid distance ladder based on the LMC from 2.5% to 1.3%. Using only the LMC DEBs to calibrate the ladder we find H 0 =74.22 ± 1.82 km s −1 Mpc −1 including systematic uncertainties, 3% higher than before for this particular anchor. Combining the LMC DEBs, masers in NGC 4258 and Milky Way parallaxes yields our best estimate: H 0 = 74.03 ± 1.42 km s −1 Mpc −1 , including systematics, an uncertainty of 1.91% -15% lower than our best previous result. Removing any one of these anchors changes H 0 by less than 0.7%. The difference between H 0 measured locally and the value inferred from Planck CMB and ΛCDM is 6.6±1.5 km s −1 Mpc −1 or 4.4 σ (P=99.999% for Gaussian errors) in significance, raising the discrepancy beyond a plausible level of chance. We summarize independent tests which show this discrepancy is not attributable to an error in any one source or measurement, increasing the odds that it results from a cosmological feature beyond ΛCDM.

Aims. We present cosmological constraints from a joint analysis of type Ia supernova (SN Ia) observations obtained by the SDSS-II and SNLS collaborations. The dataset includes several low-redshift samples (z < 0.1), all three seasons from the SDSS-II (0.05 < z < 0.4), and three years from SNLS (0.2 < z < 1), and it totals 740 spectroscopically confirmed type Ia supernovae with high-quality light curves. Methods. We followed the methods and assumptions of the SNLS three-year data analysis except for the following important improvements: 1) the addition of the full SDSS-II spectroscopically-confirmed SN Ia sample in both the training of the SALT2 light-curve model and in the Hubble diagram analysis (374 SNe); 2) intercalibration of the SNLS and SDSS surveys and reduced systematic uncertainties in the photometric calibration, performed blindly with respect to the cosmology analysis; and 3) a thorough investigation of systematic errors associated with the SALT2 modeling of SN Ia light curves. Results. We produce recalibrated SN Ia light curves and associated distances for the SDSS-II and SNLS samples. The large SDSS-II sample provides an effective, independent, low-z anchor for the Hubble diagram and reduces the systematic error from calibration systematics in the low-z SN sample. For a flat ΛCDM cosmology, we find Ω m = 0.295 ± 0.034 (stat+sys), a value consistent with the most recent cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurement from the Planck and WMAP experiments. Our result is 1.8σ (stat+sys) different than the previously published result of SNLS three-year data. The change is due primarily to improvements in the SNLS photometric calibration. When combined with CMB constraints, we measure a constant dark-energy equation of state parameter w = −1.018 ± 0.057 (stat+sys) for a flat universe. Adding baryon acoustic oscillation distance measurements gives similar constraints: w = −1.027 ± 0.055. Our supernova measurements provide the most stringent constraints to date on the nature of dark energy.

We present optical light curves, redshifts, and classifications for 365 spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) Medium Deep Survey. We detail improvements to the PS1 SN photometry, astrometry and calibration that reduce the systematic uncertainties in the PS1 SN Ia distances. We combine the subset of 279 PS1 SN Ia (0.03 < z < 0.68) with useful distance estimates of SN Ia from SDSS, SNLS, various low-z and HST samples to form the largest combined sample of SN Ia consisting of a total of 1048 SN Ia ranging from 0.01 < z < 2.3, which we call the 'Pantheon Sample'. When combining Planck 2015 CMB measurements with the Pantheon SN sample, we find Ω m = 0.307±0.012 and w = −1.026±0.041 for the wCDM model. When the SN and CMB constraints are combined with constraints from BAO and local H 0 measurements, the analysis yields the most precise measurement of dark energy to date: w 0 = −1.007 ± 0.089 and w a = −0.222 ± 0.407 for the w 0 w a CDM model. Tension with a cosmological constant previously seen in an analysis of PS1 and low-z SNe has diminished after an increase of 2× in the statistics of the PS1 sample, improved calibration and photometry, and stricter light-curve quality cuts. We find the systematic uncertainties in our measurements of dark energy are almost as large as the statistical uncertainties, primarily due to limitations of modeling the low-redshift sample. This must be addressed for future progress in using SN Ia to measure dark energy.

The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) is designed to document the first third of galactic evolution, over the approximate redshift (z) range 8-1.5. It will image >250,000 distant galaxies using three separate cameras on the Hubble Space Telescope, from the mid-ultraviolet to the near-infrared, and will find and measure Type Ia supernovae at z > 1.5 to test their accuracy as standardizable candles for cosmology. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with extensive ancillary data. The use of five widely separated fields mitigates cosmic variance and yields statistically robust and complete samples of galaxies down to a stellar mass of 10 9 M to z ≈ 2, reaching the knee of the ultraviolet luminosity function of galaxies to z ≈ 8. The survey covers approximately 800 arcmin 2 and is divided into two parts. The CANDELS/Deep survey (5σ point-source limit H = 27.7 mag) covers ∼125 arcmin 2 within Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS)-N and GOODS-S. The CANDELS/Wide survey includes GOODS and three additional fields (Extended Groth Strip, COSMOS, and Ultra-deep Survey) and covers the full area to a 5σ pointsource limit of H 27.0 mag. Together with the Hubble Ultra Deep Fields, the strategy creates a three-tiered "wedding-cake" approach that has proven efficient for extragalactic surveys. Data from the survey are nonproprietary and are useful for a wide variety of science investigations. In this paper, we describe the basic motivations for the survey, the CANDELS team science goals and the resulting observational requirements, the field selection and geometry, and the observing design. The Hubble data processing and products are described in a companion paper.