  The question of the nature of the progenitor of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia)
is important both for our detailed understanding of stellar evolution and for
their use as cosmological probes of the dark energy. Much of the basic features
of SNe Ia can be understood directly from the nuclear physics, a fact which
Gerry would have appreciated. We present an overview of the current
observational and theoretical situation and show that it not incompatible with
most SNe Ia being the results of thermonuclear explosions near the
Chandrasekhar mass.

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena