We present the results from a high-cadence, multiwavelength observation campaign of AT 2016jbu (aka Gaia16cfr), an interacting transient. This data set complements the current literature by adding higher cadence as well as extended coverage of the light-curve evolution and late-time spectroscopic evolution. Photometric coverage reveals that AT 2016jbu underwent significant photometric variability followed by two luminous events, the latter of which reached an absolute magnitude of MV ∼ −18.5 mag. This is similar to the transient SN 2009ip whose nature is still debated. Spectra are dominated by narrow emission lines and show a blue continuum during the peak of the second event. AT 2016jbu shows signatures of a complex, non-homogeneous circumstellar material (CSM). We see slowly evolving asymmetric hydrogen line profiles, with velocities of 500 km s−1 seen in narrow emission features from a slow-moving CSM, and up to 10 000 km s−1 seen in broad absorption from some high-velocity material. Late-time spectra (∼+1 yr) show a lack of forbidden emission lines expected from a core-collapse supernova and are dominated by strong emission from H, He I, and Ca II. Strong asymmetric emission features, a bumpy light curve, and continually evolving spectra suggest an inhibit nebular phase. We compare the evolution of H α among SN 2009ip-like transients and find possible evidence for orientation angle effects. The light-curve evolution of AT 2016jbu suggests similar, but not identical, circumstellar environments to other SN 2009ip-like transients.

Several thousand core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) of different flavors have been discovered so far. However, identifying their progenitors has remained an outstanding open question in astrophysics. Studies of SN host galaxies have proven to be powerful in providing constraints on the progenitor populations. In this paper, we present all CCSNe detected between 2009 and 2017 by the Palomar Transient Factory. This sample includes 888 SNe of 12 distinct classes out to redshift z approximate to 1. We present the photometric properties of their host galaxies from the far-ultraviolet to the mid-infrared and model the host-galaxy spectral energy distributions to derive physical properties. The galaxy mass function of Type Ic, Ib, IIb, II, and IIn SNe ranges from 10(5) to 10(11.5) M (circle dot), probing the entire mass range of star-forming galaxies down to the least-massive star-forming galaxies known. Moreover, the galaxy mass distributions are consistent with models of star-formation-weighted mass functions. Regular CCSNe are hence direct tracers of star formation. Small but notable differences exist between some of the SN classes. Type Ib/c SNe prefer galaxies with slightly higher masses (i.e., higher metallicities) and star formation rates than Type IIb and II SNe. These differences are less pronounced than previously thought. H-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) and SNe Ic-BL are scarce in galaxies above 10(10) M (circle dot). Their progenitors require environments with metallicities of < 0.4 and < 1 solar, respectively. In addition, the hosts of H-poor SLSNe are dominated by a younger stellar population than all other classes of CCSNe. Our findings corroborate the notion that low metallicity and young age play an important role in the formation of SLSN progenitors.

We present ultra-violet (UV) to mid-infrared (MIR) observations of the long-lasting Type IIn supernova (SN) 2013L obtained by the Carnegie Supernova Project II beginning two days after discovery and extending until +887 days (d). The SN reached a peak r-band absolute magnitude of approximate to -19 mag and an even brighter UV peak, and its light curve evolution resembles that of SN 1988Z. The spectra of SN 2013L are dominated by hydrogen emission features, characterized by three components attributed to different emission regions. A unique feature of this Type IIn SN is that, apart from the first epochs, the blue shifted line profile is dominated by the macroscopic velocity of the expanding shock wave of the SN. We are therefore able to trace the evolution of the shock velocity in the dense and partially opaque circumstellar medium (CSM), from similar to 4800 km s(-1) at +48 d, decreasing as t(-0.23) to similar to 2700 km s(-1) after a year. We performed spectral modeling of both the broad- and intermediate-velocity components of the H alpha line profile. The high-velocity component is consistent with emission from a radially thin, spherical shell located behind the expanding shock with emission wings broadened by electron scattering. We propose that the intermediate component originates from preionized gas from the unshocked dense CSM with the same velocity as the narrow component, similar to 100 km s(-1), but also that it is broadened by electron scattering. These features provide direct information about the shock structure, which is consistent with model calculations. The spectra exhibit broad OI and [OI] lines that emerge at greater than or similar to +144 d and broad CaII features. The spectral continua and the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of SN 2013L after +132 d are well reproduced by a two-component black-body (BB) model; one component represents emitting material with a temperature between 5 x 10(3) and 1.5 x 10(4) K (hot component) and the second component is characterized by a temperature around 1-1.5 x 10(3) K (warm component). The warm component dominates the emission at very late epochs (greater than or similar to +400 d), as is evident from both the last near infrared (NIR) spectrum and MIR observations obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Using the BB fit to the SEDs, we constructed a bolometric light curve that was modeled together with the unshocked CSM velocity and the shock velocity derived from the H alpha line modeling. The circumstellar-interaction model of the bolometric light curve reveals a mass-loss rate history with large values (1.7x10(-2)-0.15 M-circle dot yr(-1)) over the similar to 25-40 years before explosion, depending on the radiative efficiency and anisotropies in the CSM. The drop in the light curve at similar to 350 days and the presence of electron scattering wings at late epochs indicate an anisotropic CSM. The mass-loss rate values and the unshocked-CSM velocity are consistent with the characteristics of a massive star, such as a luminous blue variable (LBV) undergoing strong eruptions, similar to eta Carinae. Our analysis also suggests a scenario where pre-existing dust grains have a distribution that is characterized by a small covering factor.

In this paper we report the results of the first similar to four years of spectroscopic and photometric monitoring of the Type IIn supernova SN 2015da (also known as PSN J13522411+3941286, or iPTF16tu). The supernova exploded in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 5337 in a relatively highly extinguished environment. The transient showed prominent narrow Balmer lines in emission at all times and a slow rise to maximum in all bands. In addition, early observations performed by amateur astronomers give a very well-constrained explosion epoch. The observables are consistent with continuous interaction between the supernova ejecta and a dense and extended H-rich circumstellar medium. The presence of such an extended and dense medium is difficult to reconcile with standard stellar evolution models, since the metallicity at the position of SN 2015da seems to be slightly subsolar. Interaction is likely the mechanism powering the light curve, as confirmed by the analysis of the pseudo bolometric light curve, which gives a total radiated energy greater than or similar to 10(51) erg. Modeling the light curve in the context of a supernova shock breakout through a dense circumstellar medium allowed us to infer the mass of the prexisting gas to be similar or equal to 8 M-circle dot, with an extreme mass-loss rate for the progenitor star similar or equal to 0.6 M-circle dot yr(-1), suggesting that most of the circumstellar gas was produced during multiple eruptive events. Near- and mid-infrared observations reveal a fluxexcess in these domains, similar to those observed in SN 2010jl and other interacting transients, likely due to preexisting radiatively heated dust surrounding the supernova. By modeling the infrared excess, we infer a mass greater than or similar to 0.4 x 10(-3) M-circle dot for the dust.

The evolution of a Type IIn supernova (SN IIn) is governed by the interaction between the SN ejecta and a hydrogen-rich circumstellar medium. The SNe IIn thus allow us to probe the late-time mass-loss history of their progenitor stars. We present a sample of SNe IIn from the untargeted, magnitude-limited surveys of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and its successor, the intermediate PTF (iPTF). To date, statistics on SN IIn optical light-curve properties have generally been based on small (≲ 10 SNe) samples from targeted SN surveys. The SNe IIn found and followed by the PTF/iPTF were used to select a sample of 42 events with useful constraints on the rise times as well as with available post-peak photometry. The sample SNe were discovered in 2009-2016 and have at least one low-resolution classification spectrum, as well as photometry from the P48 and P60 telescopes at Palomar Observatory. We study the light-curve properties of these SNe IIn using spline fits (for the peak and the declining portion) and template matching (for the rising portion). We study the peak-magnitude distribution, rise times, decline rates, colour evolution, host galaxies, and K-corrections of the SNe in our sample. We find that the typical rise times are divided into fast and slow risers at 20±6 d and 50±11 d, respectively. The decline rates are possibly divided into two clusters (with slopes 0.013 ± 0.006 mag d^-1 and 0.040±0.010 mag d^-1), but this division has weak statistical significance. We find no significant correlation between the peak luminosity of SNe IIn and their rise times, but the more luminous SNe IIn are generally found to be more long-lasting. Slowly rising SNe IIn are generally found to decline slowly. The SNe in our sample were hosted by galaxies of absolute magnitude -22 ≲ M_g ≲ -13 mag. The K-corrections at light-curve peak of the SNe IIn in our sample are found to be within 0.2 mag for the observer's frame r-band, for SNe at redshifts z < 0.25. By applying K-corrections and also including ostensibly "superluminous" SNe IIn, we find that the peak magnitudes are M_peak^r = -19.18±1.32 mag. We conclude that the occurrence of conspicuous light-curve bumps in SNe IIn, such as in iPTF13z, are limited to 1.4+14.6−1.0 % of the SNe IIn. We also investigate a possible sub-type of SNe IIn with a fast rise to a ≳ 50 d plateau followed by a slow, linear decline.

We study 34 Type Ic supernovae that have broad spectral features (SNe Ic-BL). This is the only SN type found in association with long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We obtained our photometric data with the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and its continuation, the intermediate PTF (iPTF). This is the first large, homogeneous sample of SNe Ic-BL from an untargeted survey. Furthermore, given the high observational cadence of iPTF, most of these SNe Ic-BL were discovered soon after explosion. We present K-corrected Bgriz light curves of these SNe, obtained through photometry on template-subtracted images. We analyzed the shape of the r-band light curves, finding a correlation between the decline parameter Delta m(15) and the rise parameter Delta m-(10 ). We studied the SN colors and, based on g - r, we estimated the host-galaxy extinction for each event. Peak r-band absolute magnitudes have an average of -18.6 +/- 0.5 mag. We fit each r-band light curve with that of SN 1998bw (scaled and stretched) to derive the explosion epochs. We computed the bolometric light curves using bolometric corrections, r-band data, and g - r colors. Expansion velocities from Fen were obtained by fitting spectral templates of SNe Ic. Bolometric light curves and velocities at peak were fitted using the semianalytic Arnett model to estimate ejecta mass M-ej , explosion energy E-K and Ni-56 mass M( Ni-56) for each SN. We find average values of M-ej = 4 +/- 3 M-circle dot, E-K = (7 +/- 6) x 10(51) erg, and M( Ni-56) = 0.31 +/- 0.16 M-circle dot . The parameter distributions were compared to those presented in the literature and are overall in agreement with them. We also estimated the degree of Ni-56 mixing using scaling relations derived from hydrodynamical models and we find that all the SNe are strongly mixed. The derived explosion parameters imply that at least 21% of the progenitors of SNe Ic-BL are compatible with massive (>28 M-circle dot), possibly single stars, whereas at least 64% might come from less massive stars in close binary systems.

Some stars cease to be in a bright and destructive display called a supernova. This thesis explores what we can learn about supernovae (SNe) by studying their immediate surroundings, and what the SNe can teach us about their environments. The work presented is mostly based on the rich harvest of observations from 2009-2017 by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and its successor, the intermediate PTF (iPTF). The PTF/iPTF was an untargeted sky survey at Palomar Observatory, aimed at finding and following up astronomical transients, such as SNe. During its existence, a massive star typically loses several solar masses of material. If much mass is lost in the decades or centuries before the SN, this material around the star (the circumstellar medium, CSM) will be quickly swept up by the ejecta of the eventual SN. This interaction can contribute strongly to the luminosity of the SN and make the light curve of an interacting SN carry signs of the progenitor star mass loss history. SNe with a hydrogen-rich CSM are called SNe Type IIn. A SN of this type, iPTF13z, found and followed by iPTF, had a slowly declining lightcurve with at least 5 major rebrightenings ("bumps") indicating rich structure in the CSM. Archival images clearly shows a precursor outburst about 210 days before the SN discovery, demonstrating the iPTF13z progenitor to be restless before its demise. Type IIn supernovae are heterogeneous, but only limited statistics has been done on samples. From PTF/iPTF, a sample of 42 SNe Type IIn was therefore selected, with photometry allowing their light curve rise times, decline rates and peak luminosities to be measured. It was shown that more luminous events are generally more long-lasting, but no strong correlation was found between rise times and peak luminosities. Two clusters of risetimes (around 20 and 50 days, respectively) were identified. The less long-lasting SNe Type IIn dominate the sample, suggesting that stars with a less extended dense CSM might be more common among SN Type IIn progenitors. Thermonuclear SNe (SNe Type Ia) are useful as standardisable candles, but no secure identification has yet been made of the progenitor system of a SN Type Ia. Using a late-time spectrum from the Nordic Optical Telescope of the nearby thermonuclear SN 2014J, a search for material ablated from a possible non-compact companion gave the upper limit of about 0.0085 solar masses of hydrogen-rich ablated gas. One likely explanation is that the SN 2014J progenitor system was a binary white dwarf. Supernovae are also useful tracers of the star formation history in their host galaxies, with SNe Type Ia tracing earlier epochs of star formation and exploding massive stars tracing more recent. For active galactic nuclei (AGN, the luminous centres of galaxies harbouring accreting supermassive black holes) SNe allows the so-called unification model to be tested. The unification model assumes that the main distinction between the two types of AGN is the viewing angle towards the central black hole, and that other properties (e.g. star formation history) of the host galaxies should be the same for the two AGN types. Matching 2190 SNe from PTF/iPTF to about 89000 AGN with spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a significantly higher number of SNe in the hosts of AGN type 2 was found, challenging the unification model.

Context. Pulsars are well studied all over the electromagnetic spectrum, and the Crab pulsar may be the most studied object in the sky. Nevertheless, a high-quality optical to near-infrared (NIR) spectrum of the Crab or any other pulsar has not been published to date.

Aims. Obtaining a properly flux-calibrated spectrum enables us to measure the spectral index of the pulsar emission, without many of the caveats from previous studies. This was the main aim of this project, but in addition we could also detect absorption and emission features from the pulsar and nebula over an unprecedentedly wide wavelength range.

Methods. A spectrum was obtained with the X-shooter spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope. Special care was given to the flux-calibration of these data.

Results. A high signal-to-noise spectrum of the Crab pulsar was obtained from 300 nm to 2400 nm. The spectral index fit to this spectrum is flat with alpha(nu) = 0.16 +/- 0.07. For the emission lines we measured a maximum velocity of similar to 1600 km s(-1), whereas the absorption lines from the material between us and the pulsar is unresolved at the similar to 50 km s(-1) resolution. A number of diffuse interstellar bands and a few NIR emission lines that have previously not been reported from the Crab are highlighted.

Hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSN-I) are a class of rare and energetic explosions that have been discovered in untargeted transient surveys in the past decade(1,2). The progenitor stars and the physical mechanism behind their large radiated energies (about 1O(51) erg or 1O(44) J) are both debated, with one class of models primarily requiring a large rotational energy(3,4) and the other requiring very massive progenitors that either convert kinetic energy into radiation through interaction with circumstellar material (CSM)(5-8 )or engender an explosion caused by pair-instability (loss of photon pressure due to particle-antiparticle production)(9,10). Observing the structure of the CSM around SLSN-I offers a powerful test of some scenarios, although direct observations are scarce(11,)(12). Here, we present a series of spectroscopic observations of the SLSN-I iPTF16eh, which reveal both absorption and time- and frequency-variable emission in the Mg n resonance doublet. We show that these observations are naturally explained as a resonance scattering light echo from a circumstellar shell. Modelling the evolution of the emission, we infer a shell radius of 0.1 pc and velocity of 3,300 km s(-1), implying that the shell was ejected three decades before the supernova explosion. These properties match theoretical predictions of shell ejections occurring because of pulsational pair-instability and imply that the progenitor had a helium core mass of about 50-55 M-circle dot, corresponding to an initial mass of about 115 M-circle dot.

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are extremely powerful cosmic objects, driven by accretion of hot gas upon super-massive black holes. The zoo of AGN classes is divided into two major groups, with Type-1 AGNs displaying broad Balmer emission lines and Type-2 narrow ones. For a long time it was believed that a Type-2 AGN is a Type-1 AGN viewed through a dusty kiloparsec-sized torus, but an emerging body of observations suggests more than just the viewing angle matters. Here we report significant differences in supernova (SN) counts and classes in the first study to date of SNe near Type-1 and Type-2 AGN host galaxies, using data from the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, and Galaxy Zoo. We detect many more SNe in Type-2 AGN hosts (size of effect similar to 5.1 sigma) compared to Type-1 hosts, which shows that the two classes of AGN are located inside host galaxies with different properties. In addition, Type-1 and Type-2 AGNs that are dominated by star formation according to Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer colors m(W1) - m(W2) < 0.5 and are matched in 22 mu m absolute magnitude differ by a factor of ten in L[O III] lambda 5007 luminosity, suggesting that when residing in similar types of host galaxies Type-1 AGNs are much more luminous. Our results demonstrate two more factors that play an important role in completing the current picture: the age of stellar populations and the AGN luminosity. This has immediate consequences for understanding the many AGN classes and galaxy evolution.