Supernova Science in the Era of Massive Surveys
Astronomy, most particularly astronomy of the transient sky, is going through a
transformative phase with the advent of affordable large cameras and the increased
availability of computational resources. The field is shifting from a 'single
astronomer'+'single project'+'single telescope' paradigm to a survey, multi-science,
multi-messenger approach. Facilities such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
(LSST) promise to push this frontier further. I will specifically discuss how we
leverage this opportunity to promote our understanding in two major fields. I will
show that Type II supernovae can be used as cosmological probes, in order to
ultimately constrain the equation of state of Dark Energy. This method is
complementary to the successful use of Type Ia supernovae, which is now dominated by systematics. I will also show that we can use these data streams to study how some stars end their lives in perplexing ways, shedding new light on stellar evolution.