Optical Observations of Type II Supernovae

I present an overview of optical observations (mostly spectra) of Type II supernovae. SNe II are defined by the presence of hydrogen, and exhibit a very wide variety of properties. SNe II-L tend to show evidence of late-time interaction with circumstellar material. SNe IIn are distinguished by relatively narrow emission lines with little or no P-Cygni absorption component and (quite often) slowly declining light curves; they probably have unusually dense circumstellar gas with which the ejecta interact. Some SNe IIn, however, might not be genuine SNe, but rather are super-outbursts of luminous blue variables. The progenitors of SNe IIb contain only a low-mass skin of hydrogen; their spectra gradually evolve to resemble those of SNe Ib. Limited spectropolarimetry thus far indicates large asymmetries in the ejecta of SNe IIn, but much smaller ones in SNe II-P. There is intriguing, but still inconclusive, evidence that some peculiar SNe IIn might be associated with gamma-ray bursts. SNe II-P are useful for cosmological distance determinations with the Expanding Photosphere Method, which is independent of the Cepheid distance scale.