Masikiv Heringer, Epson Thiago2015-09-012015-09-0120152015-09-01http://hdl.handle.net/1828/6637Thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernovae are excellent distance indicators, due to their uniform peak brightness. They are also important contributors to the chemical evolution of galaxies since their explosions supply large amounts of iron peak elements to the interstellar medium. However, there is no consensus on the progenitor systems of these supernovae. As a result, different delay times from the formation of the binary system to the supernova have been proposed. Whether the observed rate of supernova Type Ia in early-type galaxies supports a progenitor channel with one or two degenerate objects has been disputed. While the predominant old population found in early-type galaxies supports longer delay times, the presence of recent star formation might indicate the opposite. In this work, we employ a double-burst model to account for the relative contribution of both populations. We show that for a DTD ∝ t^−1, convolved with star formation histories that are relevant for early-type galaxies, the supernova rate is independent of a host galaxy’s colour. Our results indicate that a DTD with no cutoff is preferred, thus favoring the double-degenerate scenario.enAvailable to the World Wide WebSupernovaeType IaRed SequenceThesis