Classification of type Ia supernovae

Two distinct subgroups have been identified, and their occurrence is discussed with regards to the use of SNe Ia as cosmological probes. Apart from the group of normal SNe, another trend characterized by intrinsically redder colours consists of many different SN events, which exhibit diverse properties.

These include the interaction with the circumstellar material and the existence of a specific shell structure in or surrounding the SN ejecta or super-Chandrasekhar mass progenitors. Compared with normal objects, these SNe may violate the standard width-luminosity correction. This could influence the cosmological results if these are all calibrated equally, as their fraction among SNe Ia is not negligible when performing precision cosmology.