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 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.

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ∼ 1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40 − 8 + 8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 M ⊙ . An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ∼ 40 Mpc ) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ∼10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ∼ 9 and ∼ 16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.

We use the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to determine the Hubble constant from optical and infrared observations of over 600 Cepheid variables in the host galaxies of eight recent Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), providing the calibration for a magnitude-redshift relation based on 253 SNe Ia. Increased precision over past measurements of the Hubble constant comes from five improvements: (1) more than doubling the number of infrared observations of Cepheids in the nearby SN hosts; (2) increasing the sample size of ideal SN Ia calibrators from six to eight; (3) increasing by 20% the number of Cepheids with infrared observations in the megamaser host NGC 4258; (4) reducing the difference in the mean metallicity of the Cepheid comparison samples between NGC 4258 and the SN hosts from Δlog [O/H] = 0.08 to 0.05; and (5) calibrating all optical Cepheid colors with a single camera, WFC3, to remove cross-instrument zero-point errors. The result is a reduction in the uncertainty in H 0 due to steps beyond the first rung of the distance ladder from 3.5% to 2.3%. The measurement of H 0 via the geometric distance to NGC 4258 is 74.8 ± 3.1 km s −1 Mpc −1 , a 4.1% measurement including systematic uncertainties. Better precision independent of the distance to NGC 4258 comes from the use of two alternative Cepheid absolute calibrations: (1) 13 Milky Way Cepheids with trigonometric parallaxes measured with HST/fine guidance sensor and Hipparcos and (2) 92 Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud for which multiple accurate and precise eclipsing binary distances are available, yielding 74.4 ± 2.5 km s −1 Mpc −1 , a 3.4% uncertainty including systematics. Our best estimate uses all three calibrations but a larger uncertainty afforded from any two: H 0 = 73.8 ± 2.4 km s −1 Mpc −1 including systematic errors, corresponding to a 3.3% uncertainty. The improved measurement of H 0 , when combined with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 7 year data, results in a tighter constraint on the equation-of-state parameter of dark energy of w = −1.08 ± 0.10. It also rules out the best-fitting gigaparsec-scale void models, posited as an alternative to dark energy. The combined H 0 + WMAP results yield N eff = 4.2 ± 0.7 for the number of relativistic particle species in the early universe, a low-significance excess for the value expected from the three known neutrino flavors.