The SuperMACHO project, a second generation microlensing survey toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), has serendipitously discovered light echoes associated with 3 supernova remnants (SNR). These echoes have given us the opportunity to study the original light from the ancient supernova (SN) events, and our spectroscopy of the echoes has for the first time identified the (sub)type of an ancient SN. Recently, we have also discovered light echoes associated with the Tycho and Cas A SNRs. Such a sample of SNRs with known explosion spectra will place stringent constrains on SNe explosion models and enhance our understanding of these events that play such an important role in the production and distribution of heavy elements in our universe.
Received December 6, 2007