Snapshot Distances to Type Ia Supernovae -- All in ``One'' Night's Work

Abstract

We present an empirical method which measures the distance to a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) with a precision of ~ 10% from a single night's data. This method measures the supernova's age and luminosity/light-curve parameter from a spectrum, and the extinction and distance from an apparent magnitude and color. We are able to verify the precision of this method from error propagation calculations, Monte Carlo simulations of well-sampled SNe Ia, and the Hubble diagram of scarcely observed supernovae. With the reduction in telescope time needed, this method is three to four times more efficient for measuring cosmological parameters than conventional light-curve based distance estimates.