Supernovae - What can we learn from the spectacular death of a star?

When stars explode as supernovae, they temporarily outshine the billions of stars in their host galaxies. Supernovae play many roles in the Universe, including accelerating cosmic rays, regulating the formation of stars, and creating and dispersing many of the heavey elements in the Universe. Supernovae are also useful tools for experiments in physics and astronomy. Dark energy, for example, was discovered when supernovae were used to measure distances to far away galaxies. In my talk, I will describe the history of supernova observations, how supernovae are discovered and studied today, the roles they play in the Universe and in our labs, and how you too can get involved in supernova observations.