Oral Presentation

Giant explosions in dwarf hosts: superluminous supernovae and their host galaxies

Author(s): Ting-Wan Chen (TUM/MPA)

Presenter: Ting-Wan Chen (Technical University of Munich/Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics)

Wide-field surveys have revolutionised time-domain astronomy, allowing very large volumes of the Universe to be searched for explosive stars, particularly exotic ones. A new class of "superluminous supernovae" are 100 times brighter but 10,000 times rarer than classical supernovae. To understand which stars explode in this way and why, it is essential to analyse the explosions and their birth places side-by-side. Here I will show how the most direct progenitor constraints to date come from detailed studies of the environments hosting superluminous supernovae, from the galaxy level down to the local circumstellar medium. I will also present new evidence that these events may produce a surprisingly large dust mass. Finally, I will look ahead to how new surveys such as LSST will continue to revolutionise our understanding of explosive transients.