First-year SDSS-II SN results

These data fill in the redshift "desert" between low- and high-redshift SN Ia surveys. Within the framework of the MLCS2K2 light-curve fitting method, we use the SDSS-II SN sample to infer the mean reddening parameter for host galaxies, R_V_=2.18+/-0.14_stat_+/-0.48_syst_, and find that the intrinsic distribution of host-galaxy extinction is well fitted by an exponential function, P(A_V_)=exp(-A_V_/{tau}_V_), with {tau}_V_=0.334+/-0.088mag.

We combine the SDSS-II measurements with new distance estimates for published SN data from the ESSENCE survey, the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and a compilation of Nearby SN Ia measurements. A new feature in our analysis is the use of detailed Monte Carlo simulations of all surveys to account for selection biases, including those from spectroscopic targeting.