SweetSpot: Near-infrared Observations of 13 Type Ia Supernovae from a New NOAO Survey Probing the Nearby Smooth Hubble Flow

We present 13 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observed in the rest-frame near-infrared (NIR) from 0.02 < z < 0.09 with the WIYN High-resolution Infrared Camera on the WIYN 3.5 m telescope. With only one to three points per light curve and a prior on the time of maximum from the spectrum used to type the object, we measure an H-band dispersion of spectroscopically normal SNe Ia of 0.164 mag. These observations continue to demonstrate the improved standard brightness of SNe Ia in an H band, even with limited data. Our sample includes two SNe Ia at z ~ 0.09, which represent the most distant rest-frame NIR H-band observations published to date. This modest sample of 13 NIR SNe Ia represent the pilot sample for "SweetSpot"—a 3 yr NOAO Survey program that will observe 144 SNe Ia in the smooth Hubble flow. By the end of the survey we will have measured the relative distance to a redshift of z ~ 0.05%-1%. Nearby Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) observations such as these will test the standard nature of SNe Ia in the rest-frame NIR, allow insight into the nature of dust, and provide a critical anchor for future cosmological SN Ia surveys at higher redshift.