Pinto 9501634 This award is made under the auspices of the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program. As a CAREER awardee the investigator is expected to pursue an active education plan in addition to his scientific research project. Supernovae are the largest (well-observed) explosions in astrophysics. They act as laboratories for the study of hydrodynamics, are the dominant driver of galactic chemical evolution and, if used with careful corrections, may be used as large-scale cosmic distance indicators. Pinto will improve his supernova atmosphere computer code, which is used to model spectra and light curves of supernovae at all energies from gamma rays through the far infrared. With the improvements the model code will be used for studies in all of the areas mentioned above. The education component of the planned research includes teaching several undergraduate and graduate courses, including setting up a computer laboratory with specialized software for astronomy undergraduates and non-majors to use in conjunction with their astronomy classes. ***
