On 2018 February 4.41, the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) discovered ASASSN-18bt in the K2 Campaign 16 field. With a redshift of z = 0.01098 and a peak apparent magnitude of B _max = 14.31, ASASSN-18bt is the nearest and brightest SNe Ia yet observed by the Kepler spacecraft. Here we present the discovery of ASASSN-18bt, the K2 light curve, and prediscovery data from ASAS-SN and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System. The K2 early-time light curve has an unprecedented 30-minute cadence and photometric precision for an SN Ia light curve, and it unambiguously shows a ∼4 day nearly linear phase followed by a steeper rise. Thus, ASASSN-18bt joins a growing list of SNe Ia whose early light curves are not well described by a single power law. We show that a double-power-law model fits the data reasonably well, hinting that two physical processes must be responsible for the observed rise. However, we find that current models of the interaction with a nondegenerate companion predict an abrupt rise and cannot adequately explain the initial, slower linear phase. Instead, we find that existing published models with shallow ⁵⁶Ni are able to span the observed behavior and, with tuning, may be able to reproduce the ASASSN-18bt light curve. Regardless, more theoretical work is needed to satisfactorily model this and other early-time SNe Ia light curves. Finally, we use Swift X-ray nondetections to constrain the presence of circumstellar material (CSM) at much larger distances and lower densities than possible with the optical light curve. For a constant-density CSM, these nondetections constrain ρ < 4.5 × 10⁵ cm⁻³ at a radius of 4 × 10¹⁵ cm from the progenitor star. Assuming a wind-like environment, we place mass loss limits of for v _w = 100 km s⁻¹, ruling out some symbiotic progenitor systems. This work highlights the power of well-sampled early-time data and the need for immediate multiband, high-cadence follow-up for progress in understanding SNe Ia.

We present well-sampled optical observations of the bright Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) SN 2011fe in M101. Our data, starting from ∼16 days before maximum light and extending to ∼463 days after maximum, provide an unprecedented time series of spectra and photometry for a normal SN Ia. Fitting the early-time rising light curve, we find that the luminosity evolution of SN 2011fe follows a t ⁿ law, with the index n being close to 2.0 in the VRI bands but slightly larger in the U and B bands. Combining the published ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NIR) photometry, we derive the contribution of UV/NIR emission relative to the optical. SN 2011fe is found to have stronger UV emission and reaches its UV peak a few days earlier than other SNe Ia with similar Δm ₁₅(B), suggestive of less trapping of high-energy photons in the ejecta. Moreover, the U-band light curve shows a notably faster decline at late phases (t ≈ 100–300 days), which also suggests that the ejecta may be relatively transparent to UV photons. These results favor the notion that SN 2011fe might have a progenitor system with relatively lower metallicity. On the other hand, the early-phase spectra exhibit prominent high-velocity features (HVFs) of O i λ7773 and the Ca ii NIR triplet, but only barely detectable in Si ii 6355. This difference can be caused by either an ionization/temperature effect or an abundance enhancement scenario for the formation of HVFs; it suggests that the photospheric temperature of SN 2011fe is intrinsically low, perhaps owing to incomplete burning during the explosion of the white dwarf.

We present panchromatic observations and modeling of the Calcium-rich supernova (SN) 2019ehk in the star-forming galaxy M100 (d ≈ 16.2 Mpc) starting 10 hr after explosion and continuing for ∼300 days. SN 2019ehk shows a double-peaked optical light curve peaking at t = 3 and 15 days. The first peak is coincident with luminous, rapidly decaying Swift-XRT–discovered X-ray emission ( at 3 days; L _x ∝ t ⁻³), and a Shane/Kast spectral detection of narrow Hα and He ii emission lines (v ≈ 500 ) originating from pre-existent circumstellar material (CSM). We attribute this phenomenology to radiation from shock interaction with extended, dense material surrounding the progenitor star at r < 10¹⁵ cm and the resulting cooling emission. We calculate a total CSM mass of ∼7 × 10⁻³ (M _He/M _H ≈6) with particle density n ≈ 10⁹ cm⁻³. Radio observations indicate a significantly lower density n < 10⁴ cm⁻³ at larger radii r > (0.1–1) × 10¹⁷ cm. The photometric and spectroscopic properties during the second light-curve peak are consistent with those of Ca-rich transients (rise-time of t _r = 13.4 ± 0.210 days and a peak B-band magnitude of M _B = −15.1 ± 0.200 mag). We find that SN 2019ehk synthesized (3.1 ± 0.11) × 10⁻² of and ejected M _ej = (0.72 ± 0.040) total with a kinetic energy E _k = (1.8 ± 0.10) × 10⁵⁰ erg. Finally, deep HST pre-explosion imaging at the SN site constrains the parameter space of viable stellar progenitors to massive stars in the lowest mass bin (∼10 ) in binaries that lost most of their He envelope or white dwarfs (WDs). The explosion and environment properties of SN 2019ehk further restrict the potential WD progenitor systems to low-mass hybrid HeCO WD+CO WD binaries.

Supernova (SN) 2018oh (ASASSN-18bt) is the first spectroscopically confirmed Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) observed in the Kepler field. The Kepler data revealed an excess emission in its early light curve, allowing us to place interesting constraints on its progenitor system. Here we present extensive optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared photometry, as well as dense sampling of optical spectra, for this object. SN 2018oh is relatively normal in its photometric evolution, with a rise time of 18.3 ± 0.3 days and Δm ₁₅(B) = 0.96 ± 0.03 mag, but it seems to have bluer B − V colors. We construct the “UVOIR” bolometric light curve having a peak luminosity of 1.49 × 10⁴³ erg s⁻¹, from which we derive a nickel mass as 0.55 ± 0.04 M _⊙ by fitting radiation diffusion models powered by centrally located ⁵⁶Ni. Note that the moment when nickel-powered luminosity starts to emerge is +3.85 days after the first light in the Kepler data, suggesting other origins of the early-time emission, e.g., mixing of ⁵⁶Ni to outer layers of the ejecta or interaction between the ejecta and nearby circumstellar material or a nondegenerate companion star. The spectral evolution of SN 2018oh is similar to that of a normal SN Ia but is characterized by prominent and persistent carbon absorption features. The C ii features can be detected from the early phases to about 3 weeks after the maximum light, representing the latest detection of carbon ever recorded in an SN Ia. This indicates that a considerable amount of unburned carbon exists in the ejecta of SN 2018oh and may mix into deeper layers.

We present ultraviolet/optical/near-infrared observations and modeling of Type II supernovae (SNe II) whose early time (δ t < 2 days) spectra show transient, narrow emission lines from shock ionization of confined (r < 10¹⁵ cm) circumstellar material (CSM). The observed electron-scattering broadened line profiles (i.e., IIn-like) of H i, He i/ii, C iv, and N iii/iv/v from the CSM persist on a characteristic timescale (t _IIn) that marks a transition to a lower-density CSM and the emergence of Doppler-broadened features from the fast-moving SN ejecta. Our sample, the largest to date, consists of 39 SNe with early time IIn-like features in addition to 35 “comparison” SNe with no evidence of early time IIn-like features, all with ultraviolet observations. The total sample includes 50 unpublished objects with a total of 474 previously unpublished spectra and 50 multiband light curves, collected primarily through the Young Supernova Experiment and Global Supernova Project collaborations. For all sample objects, we find a significant correlation between peak ultraviolet brightness and both t _IIn and the rise time, as well as evidence for enhanced peak luminosities in SNe II with IIn-like features. We quantify mass-loss rates and CSM density for the sample through the matching of peak multiband absolute magnitudes, rise times, t _IIn, and optical SN spectra with a grid of radiation hydrodynamics and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiative-transfer simulations. For our grid of models, all with the same underlying explosion, there is a trend between the duration of the electron-scattering broadened line profiles and inferred mass-loss rate: t IIn ≈ 3.8 [ M ̇ / (0.01 M _⊙ yr⁻¹)] days.

We present extensive ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared observations of the Type IIP supernova (SN IIP) 2013ej in the nearby spiral galaxy M74. The multicolor light curves, spanning from ~8–185 days after explosion, show that it has a higher peak luminosity (i.e., M_V ~ −17.83 mag at maximum light), a faster post-peak decline, and a shorter plateau phase (i.e., ~50 days) compared to the normal Type IIP SN 1999em. The mass of ⁵⁶Ni is estimated as 0.02 ± 0.01 M_⊙ from the radioactive tail of the bolometric light curve. The spectral evolution of SN 2013ej is similar to that of SN 2004et and SN 2007od, but shows a larger expansion velocity (i.e., v_{Fe ii} ~ 4600 km s⁻¹ at t ~ 50 days) and broader line profiles. In the nebular phase, the emission of the Hα line displays a double-peak structure, perhaps due to the asymmetric distribution of ⁵⁶Ni produced in the explosion. With the constraints from the main observables such as bolometric light curve, expansion velocity, and photospheric temperature of SN 2013ej, we performed hydrodynamical simulations of the explosion parameters, yielding the total explosion energy as ~0.7× 10⁵¹ erg, the radius of the progenitor as ~600 R_⊙, and the ejected mass as ~10.6 M_⊙. These results suggest that SN 2013ej likely arose from a red supergiant with a mass of 12–13 M_⊙ immediately before the explosion.