Four (Super)luminous Supernovae from the First Months of the ZTF Survey

Creators: Lunnan, R.; Yan, Lin; Perley, D. A.; Schultze, S.; Taggart, K.; Gal-Yam, A.; Fremling, C.; Soumagnac, M. T.; Ofek, E. O.; Adams, S. M.; Barbarino, C.; Bellm, E. C.; De, K.; Fransson, C.; Frederick, S.; Golkhou, V. Z.; Graham, M. J.; Hallakoun, N.; Ho, A. Y. Q.; Kasliwal, M. M.; Kaspi, S.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Laher, R. R.; Masci, F. J.; Nuñez, F. Pozo; Rusholme, B.; Quimby, R. M.; Shupe, D. L.; Sollerman, J.; Taddia, F.; van Roestel, J.; Yang, Y.; Yao, Yuhan

Abstract

We present photometry and spectroscopy of four hydrogen-poor luminous supernovae discovered during the 2-month long science commissioning and early operations of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) survey. Three of these objects, SN 2018bym (ZTF18aapgrxo), SN 2018avk (ZTF18aaisyyp), and SN 2018bgv (ZTF18aavrmcg), resemble typical SLSN-I spectroscopically, while SN 2018don (ZTF18aajqcue) may be an object similar to SN 2007bi experiencing considerable host galaxy reddening, or an intrinsically long-lived, luminous, and red SN Ic. We analyze the light curves, spectra, and host galaxy properties of these four objects and put them in context of the population of SLSN-I. SN 2018bgv stands out as the fastest-rising SLSN-I observed to date, with a rest-frame g-band rise time of just 10 days from explosion to peak—if it is powered by magnetar spin-down, the implied ejecta mass is only ≃1 M⊙. SN 2018don also displays unusual properties—in addition to its red colors and comparatively massive host galaxy, the light curve undergoes some of the strongest light-curve undulations postpeak seen in an SLSN-I, which we speculate may be due to interaction with circumstellar material. We discuss the promises and challenges of finding SLSNe in large-scale surveys like ZTF given the observed diversity in the population.

Additional Information

© 2020 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2019 October 6; revised 2020 June 25; accepted 2020 July 31; published 2020 September 22. Based on observations obtained with the Samuel Oschin Telescope 48-inch and 60-inch Telescope at the Palomar Observatory as part of the Zwicky Transient Facility project. ZTF is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. AST-1440341 and a collaboration including Caltech, IPAC, the Weizmann Institute for Science, the Oskar Klein Center at Stockholm University, the University of Maryland, the University of Washington, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron and Humboldt University, Los Alamos National Laboratories, the TANGO Consortium of Taiwan, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. Operations are conducted by COO, IPAC, and UW. The Liverpool Telescope is operated on the island of La Palma by Liverpool John Moores University in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias with financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. Some data presented herein were obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. Partially based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Spain, of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. Some of the data presented here were obtained with ALFOSC, which is provided by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA) under a joint agreement with the University of Copenhagen and NOTSA. This research has made use of data obtained through the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center Online Service, provided by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. This research has made use of NASA's Astrophysics Data System. The ZTF forced-photometry service was funded under Heising-Simons Foundation grant No. 12540303 (PI: Graham). This work was supported by the GROWTH project funded by the National Science Foundation under grant No. 1545949. A.G.Y.'s research is supported by the EU via ERC grant No. 725161, the ISF GW excellence center, an IMOS space infrastructure grant, and the BSF Transformative program, as well as the Benoziyo Endowment Fund for the Advancement of Science, the Deloro Institute for Advanced Research in Space and Optics, the Veronika A. Rabl Physics Discretionary Fund, Paul and Tina Gardner, and the WIS-CIT joint research grant; A.G.Y. is the recipient of the Helen and Martin Kimmel Award for Innovative Investigation. R.L. is supported by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship within the Horizon 2020 European Union (EU) Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017-794467). Facilities: PO:1.2 m - , PO:Hale - , Liverpool:2 m - , NOT - , Keck:I. - Software: george (Ambikasaran et al. 2015), heasoft (https://heasarc.nasa.gov/lheasoft/), LAMBDAR (Wright et al. 2016), MOSFiT (Guillochon et al. 2018), PhotoFit (Soumagnac et al. 2019).

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