We have searched for Type Ia supernovae ( SNe Ia ) in the local ( d \lesssim 60 Mpc ) Universe using Northern Sky Variability Survey ( NSVS ) data collected from the nightly optical surveys of the Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment ( ROTSE ) Telescope .
It was hoped that SNe Ia would provide a means to find previously-unknown low surface brightness ( LSB ) galaxies or displaced stars that would otherwise be very difficult to detect .
The ROTSE data allowed us to survey 19,000 square degrees at declinations north of 0 ^ { \circ } , but we did not find a single SN Ia in a period of time covering roughly one year .
Using known SNe Ia rates in bright galaxies , we set an upper limit on the optical luminosity density , { \cal L } _ { B } , of LSBs in the local Universe .
Using mean LSB baryonic and dynamical mass-to-light ratios , we find 95 % upper limits for LSBs of { { \cal L } _ { B } } \leq 2.53 \times 10 ^ { 8 } L _ { B, \odot } \hbox { Mpc } ^ { -3 } , \Omega _ { b } \leq 0.0040 , and \Omega _ { m } \leq 0.036 .
We conclude that LSBs and displaced stars are not a major constituent of matter in the local Universe .