Related papers: SN2010U -- a Luminous Nova in NGC 4214

We report on the discovery and observations of the extremely luminous optical transient CSS100217:102913+404220 (CSS100217 hereafter). Spectroscopic observations show this transient was coincident with a galaxy at redshift z=0.147, and…

Super-luminous supernova (SLSN) are supernovae showing extreme properties in their light-curves: high peak luminosities (more than 10 times brighter than bright SN Ia), and long durations. Several mechanisms have been proposed for SLSN,…

Very fast novae are novae which evolve exceptionally quickly (on timescales of only days). Due to their rapid evolution, very fast novae are challenging to detect and study, especially at early times. Here we report the discovery, which was…

A new class of ultra-long duration (>10,000 s) gamma-ray bursts has recently been suggested. They may originate in the explosion of stars with much larger radii than normal long gamma-ray bursts or in the tidal disruptions of a star. No…

The nova M31N 2023-11f (2023yoa) has been recently identified as the second eruption of a previously recognized nova, M31N 2013-10c, establishing the latter object as the 21st recurrent nova system thus far identified in M31. Here we…

On 2012 May 17.2 UT, only 1.5 +/- 0.2 d after explosion, we discovered SN 2012cg, a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in NGC 4424 (d ~ 15 Mpc). As a result of the newly modified strategy employed by the Lick Observatory SN Search, a sequence of…

Type IIn supernovae (SNe) exhibit narrow hydrogen lines that arise from the strong interaction between ejecta and circumstellar material. It remains poorly understood, however, what progenitor stars give rise to these explosions. In this…

We present optical photometry and spectra for the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2007gi in the nearby galaxy NGC 4036. SN 2007gi is characterized by extremely high-velocity (HV) features of the intermediate-mass elements (Si, Ca, and S), with…

Superluminous supernovae are a new class of supernovae that were recognized about a decade ago. Both observational and theoretical progress has been significant in the last decade. In this review, we first briefly summarize the…

SN2010ah, a very broad-lined type Ic SN discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory, was interesting because of its relatively high luminosity and the high velocity of the absorption lines, which was comparable to that of GRB/SNe,…

We present optical spectroscopic and photometric observations of the nearby type Ic supernova (SN Ic) SN 2014L. This SN was discovered by the Tsinghua-NAOC Transient Survey (TNTS) in the nearby type-Sc spiral galaxy M99 (NGC 4254). Fitting…

CCD BVRcIc photometric observations of the 2010 outburst of the recurrent nova U Scorpii are presented. The light-curve has a smooth development characterized by t2(V)=1.8 and t3(V)=4.1 days, close to the t2(V)=2.2 and t3(V)=4.3 days of…

Type Iax supernovae represent the largest class of peculiar white-dwarf supernovae. The type Iax SN~2012Z in NGC 1309 is the only white dwarf supernova with a detected progenitor system in pre-explosion observations. Deep \textit{Hubble…

U Scorpii is a recurrent nova which has been observed in outburst on 10 occasions, most recently in 2010. We present near-infrared and optical spectroscopy of the 2010 outburst of U Sco. The reddening of U Sco is found to be $E(B-V) =…

Some extragalactic SNRs are more than two orders of magnitude more luminous than the young Galactic SNR Cas A. These SNRs are called super-luminous or ultra-luminous SNRs. Their high luminosities can be caused by chance superpositions of…

We present multi-band photometry and multi-epoch spectroscopy of the peculiar Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2007qd, discovered by the SDSS-II Supernova Survey. It possesses physical properties intermediate to those of the peculiar SN 2002cx and…

A recent analysis of supernova (SN) 2002bj revealed that it was an apparently unique type Ib SN. It showed a high peak luminosity, with absolute magnitude M_R -18.5, but an extremely fast-evolving light curve. It had a rise time of <7 days…

We present optical spectroscopy, ultraviolet to infrared imaging and X-ray observations of the intermediate luminosity optical transient (ILOT) SN 2010da in NGC 300 (d=1.86 Mpc) spanning from -6 to +6 years relative to the time of outburst…

Transient surveys have recently discovered a class of supernovae (SNe) with extremely rapidly declining light curves. These events are also often relatively faint, especially compared to Type Ia SNe. The common explanation for these events…

The nova outburst experienced in 2010 by the symbiotic binary Mira V407 Cyg has been extensively studied at optical and infrared wavelengths with both photometric and spectroscopic observations. This outburst, reminiscent of similar events…