Working with Dr. David Blair at the University of Western Australia and Dr. Rolf Koch, from the Curtin University of Technology, both in Perth, Western Australia, Drs. Carl Pennypacker and Richard Muller, along with two graduate students, all of the University of California at Berkeley, will implement a search for supernovae in the Southern Hemisphere from the Perth Observatory. Software developed for the Berkeley "Automated Supernova Search," a highly successful NSF-funded project, will be transferred to the Perth Observatory so that a similar program can be established there. The search will utilize Perth's 24" telescope, a CCD system currently under development, and a computer system similar to the one in Berkeley. When the Perth system starts to function, there will be some overlap in the galaxies searched, such that when Berkeley discovers a new supernova, Perth can confirm, and vice versa. Similarly, when inclement weather prevents observations at one observatory, the other can take over. As confidence is gained in the new system at Perth, it can begin searches in galaxies visible only from the Southern Hemisphere, and discoveries can be shared and studied jointly.
