The core-collapse rate from the Supernova Legacy Survey

We use three years of data from the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) to study the general properties of core-collapse and type Ia supernovae. This is the first such study using the “rolling search” technique which guarantees well-sampled SNLS light curves and good efficiency for supernovae brighter than ~24. Using host photometric redshifts, we measure the supernova absolute magnitude distribution down to luminosities 4.5 mag fainter than normal SNIa. Using spectroscopy and light-curve fitting to discriminate against SNIa, we find a sample of 117 core-collapse supernova candidates with redshifts z ±0.8(stat.)±0.6 (sys.). This corresponds to a core-collapse rate at z = 0.3 of 1.42±0.3(stat.)±0.3(sys.) 10-4 yr-1( Mpc)-3.