Type 1a Supernova - linking Nickel decay to luminosity

[OscarTheDog]

Homework Statement

I have a question in my coursework where I don't know where to start. I've got Nickel decaying post the explosion, I've got a time t, I've got an energy release per nucleus of Nickel, I've got a decay constant, I've got a light curve decay half life, and I've got a luminosity at time t. So how do I link these things togehter?

Homework Equations

What rate must Nickel be decaying at to give the luminosity at time t?

The Attempt at a Solution

Not sure where to start. I have the formulae relating to numbers of nucleons of Nickel at time t=0, and time t, and imagine somehow I need to relate the energy liberated from the decay of each nucleon to the overall luminosity, but I've really tied myself in knots as to where to start

 

[phyzguy]

Well, you might start by asking yourself, "What is luminosity?" What are its units?

 

[OscarTheDog]

So really that simple, how many nucleons of Nickel are burning up in MeV or J per second in order to give the luminosity? I didn't think it could be that simple, but now I've written it down with your prompt on units...