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The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will revolutionize Time Domain Astronomy by detecting millions of transients. In particular, it is expected to increment the number of type Ia supernovae (SNIa) of a factor of 100 compared to existing samples up to z~1.2. Such a high number of events will dramatically reduce statistical uncertainties in the analysis of SNIa properties and rates. However, the impact of all other sources of uncertainty on the measurement must still be evaluated. The comprehension and reduction of such uncertainties will be fundamental both for cosmology and stellar evolution studies, as measuring the SNIa rate can put constraints on the evolutionary scenarios of different SNIa progenitors. We use simulated data from the DESC Data Challenge 2 (DC2) and LSST Data Preview 0 (DP0) to measure the SNIa rate on a 15 deg2 region of the Wide-Fast-Deep area. We select a sample of SN candidates detected on difference images, associate them to the host galaxy, and retrieve their photometric redshifts (z-phot). Then, we test different light curves classification methods, with and without redshift priors. We discuss how the distribution in redshift measured for the SN candidates changes according to the selected host galaxy and redshift estimate. We measure the SNIa rate analyzing the impact of uncertainties due to z-phot, host galaxy association and classification on the distribution in redshift of the starting sample. We found a 17% average lost fraction of SNIa with respect to the simulated sample. As 10% of the bias is due to the uncertainty on the z-phot alone (which also affects classification when used as a prior), it results to be the major source of uncertainty. We discuss possible reduction of the errors in the measurement of the SNIa rate, including synergies with other surveys, which may help using the rate to discriminate different progenitor models., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

High-quality Extragalactic Legacy-field Monitoring (HELM) is a long-term observing program that photometrically monitors several well-studied extragalactic legacy fields with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) imager on the CTIO 4m Blanco telescope. Since Feb 2019, HELM has been monitoring regions within COSMOS, XMM-LSS, CDF-S, S-CVZ, ELAIS-S1, and SDSS Stripe 82 with few-day cadences in the $(u)gri(z)$ bands, over a collective sky area of $\sim 38$ deg${\rm ^2}$. The main science goal of HELM is to provide high-quality optical light curves for a large sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and to build decades-long time baselines when combining past and future optical light curves in these legacy fields. These optical images and light curves will facilitate the measurements of AGN reverberation mapping lags, as well as studies of AGN variability and its dependences on accretion properties. In addition, the time-resolved and coadded DECam photometry will enable a broad range of science applications from galaxy evolution to time-domain science. We describe the design and implementation of the program and present the first data release that includes source catalogs and the first $\sim 3.5$ years of light curves during 2019A--2022A., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables, submitted to ApJS. Median source catalogs and light curves of individual objects are publicly available at https://ariel.astro.illinois.edu/helm/

Due to their short timescale, stellar flares are a challenging target for the most modern synoptic sky surveys. The upcoming Vera C. Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), a project designed to collect more data than any precursor survey, is unlikely to detect flares with more than one data point in its main survey. We developed a methodology to enable LSST studies of stellar flares, with a focus on flare temperature and temperature evolution, which remain poorly constrained compared to flare morphology. By leveraging the sensitivity expected from the Rubin system, Differential Chromatic Refraction can be used to constrain flare temperature from a single-epoch detection, which will enable statistical studies of flare temperatures and constrain models of the physical processes behind flare emission using the unprecedentedly high volume of data produced by Rubin over the 10-year LSST. We model the refraction effect as a function of the atmospheric column density, photometric filter, and temperature of the flare, and show that flare temperatures at or above ~4,000K can be constrained by a single g-band observation at airmass X > 1.2, given the minimum specified requirement on single-visit relative astrometric accuracy of LSST, and that a surprisingly large number of LSST observations is in fact likely be conducted at X > 1.2, in spite of image quality requirements pushing the survey to preferentially low X. Having failed to measure flare DCR in LSST precursor surveys, we make recommendations on survey design and data products that enable these studies in LSST and other future surveys., Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, 1 table. Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

This work presents the case for a single-band LSST-matched depth Roman Community Survey over the footprint of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Wide-Fast-Deep to enhance the key science programs of both missions. We propose to observe the ~18K sq deg LSST Wide-Fast-Deep footprint in the F146 filter to mAB~25; this will take approximately 5 months of Roman observing time. The combination of the multiwavelength nature of LSST and angular resolution of Roman would lead to enhanced scientific returns for both the Roman and LSST surveys. Galaxy deblending and crowded field photometry will be significantly improved. The extension of Rubin LSST six-band optical photometry to IR wavelengths would improve photometric redshift (photo-z) estimation, leading to improved cosmological parameter estimation, penetrate interstellar dust in the Galactic plane, improve differential chromatic refraction derived Spectral Energy Distributions, maximize galaxy-star separation and minimize crowding confusion through improved angular resolution. Conversely, the LSST survey will provide a time-domain extension of the Roman survey on the shared footprint and 6-band optical photometry with sensitivity extending all the way to ultraviolet wavelengths., Comment: This document was written in response to the Call for Community Input into the Definition of the Roman Space Telescope's Core Community Surveys (June 2023)

Among the supernovae (SNe) that show strong interaction with the circumstellar medium, there is a rare subclass of Type Ia supernovae, SNe Ia-CSM, that show strong narrow hydrogen emission lines much like SNe IIn but on top of a diluted over-luminous Type Ia spectrum. In the only previous systematic study of this class (Silverman et al. 2013), 16 objects were identified, 8 historic and 8 from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). Now using the successor survey to PTF, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), we have classified 12 additional objects of this type through the systematic Bright Transient Survey (BTS). In this study, we present and analyze the optical and mid-IR light curves, optical spectra, and host galaxy properties of this sample. Consistent with previous studies, we find the objects to have slowly evolving light curves compared to normal SNe Ia with peak absolute magnitudes between -19.1 and -21, spectra having weak H$\beta$, large Balmer decrements of ~7 and strong Ca NIR emission. Out of 10 SNe from our sample observed by NEOWISE, 9 have $3\sigma$ detections, along with some showing a clear reduction in red-wing of H$\alpha$, indicative of newly formed dust. We do not find our SN Ia-CSM sample to have a significantly different distribution of equivalent width of He I $\lambda5876$ than SNe IIn as observed in Silverman et al. 2013. The hosts tend to be late-type galaxies with recent star formation. We also derive a rate estimate of 29$^{+27}_{-21}$ Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ for SNe Ia-CSM which is ~0.02--0.2 % of the SN Ia rate. This work nearly doubles the sample of well-studied Ia-CSM objects in Silverman et al. 2013, increasing the total number to 28., Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to ApJ

Narrow transient emission lines (flash-ionization features) in early supernova (SN) spectra trace the presence of circumstellar material (CSM) around the massive progenitor stars of core-collapse SNe. The lines disappear within days after the SN explosion, suggesting that this material is spatially confined, and originates from enhanced mass loss shortly (months to a few years) prior to explosion. We performed a systematic survey of H-rich (Type II) SNe discovered within less than two days from explosion during the first phase of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) survey (2018-2020), finding thirty events for which a first spectrum was obtained within $< 2$ days from explosion. The measured fraction of events showing flash ionisation features ($>36\%$ at $95\%$ confidence level) confirms that elevated mass loss in massive stars prior to SN explosion is common. We find that SNe II showing flash ionisation features are not significantly brighter, nor bluer, nor more slowly rising than those without. This implies that CSM interaction does not contribute significantly to their early continuum emission, and that the CSM is likely optically thin. We measured the persistence duration of flash ionisation emission and find that most SNe show flash features for $\approx 5 $ days. Rarer events, with persistence timescales $>10$ days, are brighter and rise longer, suggesting these may be intermediate between regular SNe II and strongly-interacting SNe IIn.

This paper presents a new optical imaging survey of four deep drilling fields (DDFs), two Galactic and two extragalactic, with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4 meter Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). During the first year of observations in 2021, $>$4000 images covering 21 square degrees (7 DECam pointings), with $\sim$40 epochs (nights) per field and 5 to 6 images per night per filter in $g$, $r$, $i$, and/or $z$, have become publicly available (the proprietary period for this program is waived). We describe the real-time difference-image pipeline and how alerts are distributed to brokers via the same distribution system as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). In this paper, we focus on the two extragalactic deep fields (COSMOS and ELAIS-S1), characterizing the detected sources and demonstrating that the survey design is effective for probing the discovery space of faint and fast variable and transient sources. We describe and make publicly available 4413 calibrated light curves based on difference-image detection photometry of transients and variables in the extragalactic fields. We also present preliminary scientific analysis regarding Solar System small bodies, stellar flares and variables, Galactic anomaly detection, fast-rising transients and variables, supernovae, and active galactic nuclei., Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, 2 tables. Accepted to MNRAS

We present JWST near- and mid-infrared spectroscopic observations of the nearby normal Type Ia supernova SN 2021aefx in the nebular phase at $+255$ days past maximum light. Our Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) observations, combined with ground-based optical data from the South African Large Telescope (SALT), constitute the first complete optical $+$ NIR $+$ MIR nebular SN Ia spectrum covering 0.3$-$14 $\mu$m. This spectrum unveils the previously unobserved 2.5$-$5 $\mu$m region, revealing strong nebular iron and stable nickel emission, indicative of high-density burning that can constrain the progenitor mass. The data show a significant improvement in sensitivity and resolution compared to previous Spitzer MIR data. We identify numerous NIR and MIR nebular emission lines from iron-group elements and as well as lines from the intermediate-mass element argon. The argon lines extend to higher velocities than the iron-group elements, suggesting stratified ejecta that are a hallmark of delayed-detonation or double-detonation SN Ia models. We present fits to simple geometric line profiles to features beyond 1.2 $\mu$m and find that most lines are consistent with Gaussian or spherical emission distributions, while the [Ar III] 8.99 $\mu$m line has a distinctively flat-topped profile indicating a thick spherical shell of emission. Using our line profile fits, we investigate the emissivity structure of SN 2021aefx and measure kinematic properties. Continued observations of SN 2021aefx and other SNe Ia with JWST will be transformative to the study of SN Ia composition, ionization structure, density, and temperature, and will provide important constraints on SN Ia progenitor and explosion models., Comment: published in ApJ Letters, 17 pages, 12 figures

We present multi-wavelength time-series spectroscopy of SN 2013aa and SN 2017cbv, two Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) on the outskirts of the same host galaxy, NGC 5643. This work utilizes new nebular-phase near-infrared (NIR) spectra obtained by the Carnegie Supernova Project-II, in addition to previously published optical and NIR spectra. By measuring nebular-phase [Fe II] lines in both the optical and NIR, we examine the explosion kinematics and test the efficacy of several emission line fitting techniques commonly used in the literature. The NIR [Fe II] 1.644 $\mu$m line provides the most robust velocity measurements against variations due to the choice of the fit method and line blending. The resulting effects on velocity measurements due to choosing different fit methods, initial fit parameters, continuum and line profile functions, and fit region boundaries were also investigated. The NIR [Fe II] velocities yield the same radial shift direction as velocities measured using the optical [Fe II] 7155 A line, but the sizes of the shifts are consistently and substantially lower, pointing to a potential issue in optical studies. The NIR [Fe II] 1.644 $\mu$m emission profile shows a lack of significant asymmetry in both SNe Ia, and the observed low velocities elevate the importance for correcting for any radial velocity contribution from the host galaxy's rotation. The low [Fe II] velocities measured in the NIR at nebular phases disfavors most progenitor scenarios in close double-degenerate systems for both SN 2013aa and SN 2017cbv. The time evolution of the NIR [Fe II] 1.644 $\mu$m line also indicates moderately high progenitor white dwarf central density and potentially high magnetic fields. These sibling SNe Ia were well observed at both early and late times, providing an excellent opportunity to study the intrinsic diversity of SNe Ia., Comment: submitted to ApJ on Oct 4, 2022 accepted for publication on Dec 19, 2022

The Vera C. Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time holds the potential to revolutionize time domain astrophysics, reaching completely unexplored areas of the Universe and mapping variability time scales from minutes to a decade. To prepare to maximize the potential of the Rubin LSST data for the exploration of the transient and variable Universe, one of the four pillars of Rubin LSST science, the Transient and Variable Stars Science Collaboration, one of the eight Rubin LSST Science Collaborations, has identified research areas of interest and requirements, and paths to enable them. While our roadmap is ever-evolving, this document represents a snapshot of our plans and preparatory work in the final years and months leading up to the survey's first light., Comment: 202 pages (in book format) 34 figures plus chapter heading figures (13)

We present multi-band photometric and spectroscopic observations of the type II supernova, (SN) 2019va, which shows an unusually flat plateau-phase evolution in its V-band light curve. Its pseudo-bolometric light curve even shows a weak brightening towards the end of the plateau phase. These uncommon features are related to the influence of 56Ni decay on the light curve during the plateau phase, when the SN emission is usually dominated by cooling of the envelope. The inferred 56Ni mass of SN 2019va is 0.088+/-0.018 solar mass, which is significantly larger than most SNe II. To estimate the influence of 56Ni decay on the plateau-phase light curve, we calculate the ratio (dubbed as eta_Ni) between the integrated time-weighted energy from 56Ni decay and that from envelope cooling within the plateau phase, obtaining a value of 0.8 for SN 2019va, which is the second largest value among SNe II that have been measured. After removing the influence of 56Ni decay on the plateau-phase light curve, we found that the progenitor/explosion parameters derived for SN 2019va are more reasonable. In addition, SN 2019va is found to have weaker metal lines in its spectra compared to other SNe IIP at similar epochs, implying a low-metallicity progenitor, which is consistent with the metal-poor environment inferred from the host-galaxy spectrum. We further discuss the possible reasons that might lead to SN 2019va-like events., Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, accepted by MNRAS

We describe Rubin Observatory's experience with offering a data access facility (and associated services including our Science Platform) deployed on Google Cloud infrastructure as part of our pre-Operations Data Preview program., Comment: 4 pages 1 figure

Vera C. Rubin Observatory is a ground-based astronomical facility under construction, a joint project of the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, designed to conduct a multi-purpose 10-year optical survey of the southern hemisphere sky: the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Significant flexibility in survey strategy remains within the constraints imposed by the core science goals of probing dark energy and dark matter, cataloging the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. The survey's massive data throughput will be transformational for many other astrophysics domains and Rubin's data access policy sets the stage for a huge potential users' community. To ensure that the survey science potential is maximized while serving as broad a community as possible, Rubin Observatory has involved the scientific community at large in the process of setting and refining the details of the observing strategy. The motivation, history, and decision-making process of this strategy optimization are detailed in this paper, giving context to the science-driven proposals and recommendations for the survey strategy included in this Focus Issue., Comment: Submitted as the opening paper of the Astrophysical Journal Focus Issue on Rubin LSST cadence and survey strategy

ASASSN-14ms may represent the most luminous Type Ibn supernova (SN~Ibn) ever detected, with an absolute U-band magnitude brighter than -22.0 mag and a total bolometric luminosity >1.0x10^{44} erg/s near maximum light. The early-time spectra of this SN are characterized by a blue continuum on which are superimposed narrow P~Cygni profile lines of He I, suggesting the presence of slowly moving (~1000 km/s), He-rich circumstellar material (CSM). At 1--2 months after maximum brightness, the He I line profiles become only slightly broader, with blueshifted velocities of 2000--3000 km/s, consistent with the CSM shell being continuously accelerated by the SN light and ejecta. Like most SNe~Ibn, the light curves of ASASSN-14ms show rapid post-peak evolution, dropping by ~7 mag in the V band over three months. Such a rapid post-peak decline and high luminosity can be explained with interaction between SN ejecta and helium-rich CSM of 0.9~M_{\odot} at a distance of~10^{15} cm. The CSM around ASASSN-14ms is estimated to originate from a pre-explosion event with a mass-loss rate of 6.7~M_\odot /yr (assuming a velocity of ~1000 km/s), which is consistent with abundant He-rich material violently ejected during the late Wolf-Rayet (WN9-11 or Opfe) stage. After examining the light curves for a sample of SNe~Ibn, we find that the more luminous ones tend to have slower post-peak decline rates, reflecting that the observed differences may arise primarily from discrepancies in the CSM distribution around the massive progenitors., Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

We present optical and ultraviolet photometry, as well as optical spectra, for the type II supernova (SN) 2015bf. Our observations cover the phases from $\sim 2$ to $\sim 200$ d after explosion. The first spectrum is characterised by a blue continuum with a blackbody temperature of $\sim 24,000$K and flash-ionised emission lines. After about one week, the spectra of SN 2015bf evolve like those of a regular SN II. From the luminosity of the narrow emission component of H$\alpha$, we deduce that the mass-loss rate is larger than $\sim 3.7\times10^{-3}\,{\rm M_\odot\,yr^{-1}}$. The disappearance of the flash features in the first week after explosion indicates that the circumstellar material is confined within $\sim 6 \times 10^{14}$ cm. Thus, we suggest that the progenitor of SN 2015bf experienced violent mass loss shortly before the supernova explosion. The multiband light curves show that SN 2015bf has a high peak luminosity with an absolute visual magnitude $M_V = -18.11 \pm 0.08$ mag and a fast post-peak decline with a $V$-band decay of $1.22 \pm 0.09$ mag within $\sim 50$ d after maximum light. Moreover, the $R$-band tail luminosity of SN 2015bf is fainter than that of SNe~II with similar peak by 1--2 mag, suggesting a small amount of ${\rm ^{56}Ni}$ ($\sim 0.009\,{\rm M_\odot}$) synthesised during the explosion. Such a low nickel mass indicates that the progenitor of SN 2015bf could be a super-asymptotic-giant-branch star that collapsed owing to electron capture., Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS

The observing strategy of a galaxy survey influences the degree to which its resulting data can be used to accomplish any science goal. LSST is thus seeking metrics of observing strategies for multiple science cases in order to optimally choose a cadence. Photometric redshifts are essential for many extragalactic science applications of LSST's data, including but not limited to cosmology, but there are few metrics available, and they are not straightforwardly integrated with metrics of other cadence-dependent quantities that may influence any given use case. We propose a metric for observing strategy optimization based on the potentially recoverable mutual information about redshift from a photometric sample under the constraints of a realistic observing strategy. We demonstrate a tractable estimation of a variational lower bound of this mutual information implemented in a public code using conditional normalizing flows. By comparing the recoverable redshift information across observing strategies, we can distinguish between those that preclude robust redshift constraints and those whose data will preserve more redshift information, to be generically utilized in a downstream analysis. We recommend the use of this versatile metric to observing strategy optimization for redshift-dependent extragalactic use cases, including but not limited to cosmology, as well as any other science applications for which photometry may be modeled from true parameter values beyond redshift., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, to be submitted to MNRAS

We report on the Swift/XRT Deep Galactic Plane Survey discovery and multi-wavelength follow-up observations of a new intermediate polar Cataclysmic Variable, Swift J183920.1-045350. A 449.7 s spin period is found in Xmm-Newton and NuSTAR data, accompanied by a 459.9 s optical period that is most likely the synodic, or beat period, produced from a 5.6 h orbital period. The orbital period is seen with moderate significance in independent long-baseline optical photometry observations with ZTF and SAAO. We find that the source X-ray pulsed fraction decreases with increasing energy. The X-ray spectra are consistent with the presence of an Fe emission line complex with both local and interstellar absorption. In the optical spectra, strong H$\alpha{}$, H I, He I and He II emission lines are observed, all common features in magnetic CVs. The source properties are thus typical of known intermediate polars, with the exception of its estimated distance of 2.26$^{+1.93}_{-0.83}$ kpc, which is larger than typical, extending the reach of the CV population in our Galaxy., Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures

Interaction-powered supernovae (SNe) explode within an optically-thick circumstellar medium (CSM) that could be ejected during eruptive events. To identify and characterize such pre-explosion outbursts we produce forced-photometry light curves for 196 interacting SNe, mostly of Type IIn, detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility between early 2018 and June 2020. Extensive tests demonstrate that we only expect a few false detections among the 70,000 analyzed pre-explosion images after applying quality cuts and bias corrections. We detect precursor eruptions prior to 18 Type IIn SNe and prior to the Type Ibn SN2019uo. Precursors become brighter and more frequent in the last months before the SN and month-long outbursts brighter than magnitude -13 occur prior to 25% (5 - 69%, 95% confidence range) of all Type IIn SNe within the final three months before the explosion. With radiative energies of up to $10^{49}\,\text{erg}$, precursors could eject $\sim1\,\text{M}_\odot$ of material. Nevertheless, SNe with detected precursors are not significantly more luminous than other SNe IIn and the characteristic narrow hydrogen lines in their spectra typically originate from earlier, undetected mass-loss events. The long precursor durations require ongoing energy injection and they could, for example, be powered by interaction or by a continuum-driven wind. Instabilities during the neon and oxygen burning phases are predicted to launch precursors in the final years to months before the explosion; however, the brightest precursor is 100 times more energetic than anticipated.

We present a public catalog of transients from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) Bright Transient Survey (BTS), a magnitude-limited (m<19 mag in either the g or r filter) survey for extragalactic transients in the ZTF public stream. We introduce cuts on survey coverage, sky visibility around peak light, and other properties unconnected to the nature of the transient, and show that the resulting statistical sample is spectroscopically 97% complete at <18 mag, 93% complete at <18.5 mag, and 75% complete at <19 mag. We summarize the fundamental properties of this population, identifying distinct duration-luminosity correlations in a variety of supernova (SN) classes and associating the majority of fast optical transients with well-established spectroscopic SN types (primarily SN Ibn and II/IIb). We measure the Type Ia SN and core-collapse (CC) SN rates and luminosity functions, which show good consistency with recent work. About 7% of CC SNe explode in very low-luminosity galaxies (M_i > -16 mag), 10% in red-sequence galaxies, and 1% in massive ellipticals. We find no significant difference in the luminosity or color distributions between the host galaxies of Type II and Type Ib/c supernovae, suggesting that line-driven wind stripping does not play a major role in the loss of the hydrogen envelope from their progenitors. Future large-scale classification efforts with ZTF and other wide-area surveys will provide high-quality measurements of the rates, properties, and environments of all known types of optical transients and limits on the existence of theoretically predicted but as of yet unobserved explosions., Comment: Accepted to ApJ. Live BTS statistics are available online at https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/ztf/bts/bts.php and an interactive catalog of our sample is available at https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/ztf/bts/explorer.php

Spectroscopic detection of narrow emission lines traces the presence of circumstellar mass distributions around massive stars exploding as core-collapse supernovae. Transient emission lines disappearing shortly after the supernova explosion suggest that the spatial extent of such material is compact, and hence imply an increased mass loss shortly prior to explosion. Here, we present a systematic survey for such transient emission lines (Flash Spectroscopy) among Type II supernovae detected in the first year of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) survey. We find that at least six out of ten events for which a spectrum was obtained within two days of estimated explosion time show evidence for such transient flash lines. Our measured flash event fraction ($>30\%$ at $95\%$ confidence level) indicates that elevated mass loss is a common process occurring in massive stars that are about to explode as supernovae.

We present a systematic search for optical counterparts to 13 gravitational wave (GW) triggers involving at least one neutron star during LIGO/Virgo's third observing run. We searched binary neutron star (BNS) and neutron star black hole (NSBH) merger localizations with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and undertook follow-up with the Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen (GROWTH) collaboration. The GW triggers had a median localization of 4480 deg^2, median distance of 267 Mpc and false alarm rates ranging from 1.5 to 1e-25 per yr. The ZTF coverage had a median enclosed probability of 39%, median depth of 20.8mag, and median response time of 1.5 hr. The O3 follow-up by the GROWTH team comprised 340 UVOIR photometric points, 64 OIR spectra, and 3 radio. We find no promising kilonova (radioactivity-powered counterpart) and we convert the upper limits to constrain the underlying kilonova luminosity function. Assuming that all kilonovae are at least as luminous as GW170817 at discovery (-16.1mag), we calculate our joint probability of detecting zero kilonovae is only 4.2%. If we assume that all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6mag (extrapolated peak magnitude of GW170817) and fade at 1 mag/day (similar to GW170817), the joint probability of zero detections is 7%. If we separate the NSBH and BNS populations, the joint probability of zero detections, assuming all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6mag, is 9.7% for NSBH and 7.9% for BNS mergers. Moreover, <57% (<89%) of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6mag assuming flat (fading) evolution, at 90% confidence. If we further account for the online terrestrial probability for each GW trigger, we find that <68% of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6mag. Comparing to model grids, we find that some kilonovae must have Mej < 0.03 Msun or Xlan>1e-4 or phi>30deg to be consistent with our limits. (Abridged), Comment: Submitted to ApJ

Accurate photometric redshift (photo-$z$) estimates are essential to the cosmological science goals of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). In this work we use simulated photometry for mock galaxy catalogs to explore how LSST photo-$z$ estimates can be improved by the addition of near-infrared (NIR) and/or ultraviolet (UV) photometry from the Euclid, WFIRST, and/or CASTOR space telescopes. Generally, we find that deeper optical photometry can reduce the standard deviation of the photo-$z$ estimates more than adding NIR or UV filters, but that additional filters are the only way to significantly lower the fraction of galaxies with catastrophically under- or over-estimated photo-$z$. For Euclid, we find that the addition of ${JH}$ $5{\sigma}$ photometric detections can reduce the standard deviation for galaxies with $z>1$ ($z>0.3$) by ${\sim}20\%$ (${\sim}10\%$), and the fraction of outliers by ${\sim}40\%$ (${\sim}25\%$). For WFIRST, we show how the addition of deep ${YJHK}$ photometry could reduce the standard deviation by ${\gtrsim}50\%$ at $z>1.5$ and drastically reduce the fraction of outliers to just ${\sim}2\%$ overall. For CASTOR, we find that the addition of its ${UV}$ and $u$-band photometry could reduce the standard deviation by ${\sim}30\%$ and the fraction of outliers by ${\sim}50\%$ for galaxies with $z<0.5$. We also evaluate the photo-$z$ results within sky areas that overlap with both the NIR and UV surveys, and when spectroscopic training sets built from the surveys' small-area deep fields are used., Comment: 21 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables, accepted to AJ

Using selection criteria based on amplitude, time and color, we have identified 329 objects as known or candidate cataclysmic variable (CVs) during the first year of testing and operation of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Of these, 90 are previously confirmed CVs, 218 are strong candidates based on the shape and color of their light curves obtained during 3-562 days of observations, and the remaining 21 are possible CVs but with too few data points to be listed as good candidates. Almost half the strong candidates are within 10 deg of the galactic plane, in contrast to most other large surveys which have avoided crowded fields. The available Gaia parallaxes are consistent with sampling the low mass transfer CVs, as predicted by population models. Our followup spectra have confirmed Balmer/helium emission lines in 27 objects, with four showing high excitation HeII emission, including candidates for an AM CVn, a polar and an intermediate polar. Our results demonstrate that a complete survey of the galactic plane is needed to accomplish an accurate determination of the number of CVs existing in the Milky Way., Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables

We present a survey of the early evolution of 12 Type IIn supernovae (SNe IIn) in the Ultra-Violet (UV) and visible light. We use this survey to constrain the geometry of the circumstellar material (CSM) surrounding SN IIn explosions, which may shed light on their progenitor diversity. In order to distinguish between aspherical and spherical circumstellar material (CSM), we estimate the blackbody radius temporal evolution of the SNe IIn of our sample, following the method introduced by Soumagnac et al. We find that higher luminosity objects tend to show evidence for aspherical CSM. Depending on whether this correlation is due to physical reasons or to some selection bias, we derive a lower limit between 35% and 66% on the fraction of SNe IIn showing evidence for aspherical CSM. This result suggests that asphericity of the CSM surrounding SNe IIn is common - consistent with data from resolved images of stars undergoing considerable mass loss. It should be taken into account for more realistic modelling of these events., Comment: Submitted to ApJ. Comments are welcome

We present 637 low-redshift optical spectra collected by the Berkeley Supernova Ia Program (BSNIP) between 2009 and 2018, almost entirely with the Kast double spectrograph on the Shane 3~m telescope at Lick Observatory. We describe our automated spectral classification scheme and arrive at a final set of 626 spectra (of 242 objects) that are unambiguously classified as belonging to Type Ia supernovae (SNe~Ia). Of these, 70 spectra of 30 objects are classified as spectroscopically peculiar (i.e., not matching the spectral signatures of "normal" SNe~Ia) and 79 SNe~Ia (covered by 328 spectra) have complementary photometric coverage. The median SN in our final set has one epoch of spectroscopy, has a redshift of 0.0208 (with a low of 0.0007 and high of 0.1921), and is first observed spectroscopically 1.1 days after maximum light. The constituent spectra are of high quality, with a median signal-to-noise ratio of 31.8 pixel$^{-1}$, and have broad wavelength coverage, with $\sim 95\%$ covering at least 3700--9800~\AA. We analyze our dataset, focusing on quantitative measurements (e.g., velocities, pseudo-equivalent widths) of the evolution of prominent spectral features in the available early-time and late-time spectra. The data are available to the community, and we encourage future studies to incorporate our spectra in their analyses., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Early-time observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are essential to constrain their progenitor properties. In this paper, we present high-quality light curves of 127 SNe Ia discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) in 2018. We describe our method to perform forced point spread function (PSF) photometry, which can be applied to other types of extragalactic transients. With a planned cadence of six observations per night ($3g+3r$), all of the 127 SNe Ia are detected in both $g$ and $r$ band more than 10\,d (in the rest frame) prior to the epoch of $g$-band maximum light. The redshifts of these objects range from $z=0.0181$ to 0.165; the median redshift is 0.074. Among the 127 SNe, 50 are detected at least 14\,d prior to maximum light (in the rest frame), with a subset of 9 objects being detected more than 17\,d before $g$-band peak. This is the largest sample of young SNe Ia collected to date; it can be used to study the shape and color evolution of the rising light curves in unprecedented detail. We discuss six peculiar events in this sample, including one 02cx-like event ZTF18abclfee (SN\,2018crl), one Ia-CSM SN ZTF18aaykjei (SN\,2018cxk), and four objects with possible super-Chandrasekhar mass progenitors: ZTF18abhpgje (SN\,2018eul), ZTF18abdpvnd (SN\,2018dvf), ZTF18aawpcel (SN\,2018cir) and ZTF18abddmrf (SN\,2018dsx)., Comment: Accepted by ApJ

Whether supernovae are a significant source of dust has been a long-standing debate. The large quantities of dust observed in high-redshift galaxies raise a fundamental question as to the origin of dust in the Universe since stars cannot have evolved to the AGB dust-producing phase in high-redshift galaxies. In contrast, supernovae occur within several millions of years after the onset of star formation. This white paper focuses on dust formation in supernova ejecta with US-Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) perspective during the era of JWST and LSST., Comment: Astro2020 Science White Paper: Dust Formation in Supernovae with US-ELT Perspective

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will open a discovery frontier for faint and fast transients with its ability to detect variable flux components down to $\sim$24.5 mag in a $\sim$30 second exposure. Spectroscopic follow-up of such phenomena - which are necessary for understanding the physics of stellar explosions - can require a rapid response and several hours with a 8-10m telescope, making it both expensive and difficult to acquire. The future Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) would be able to provide not only spectroscopy but capabilities such as spectropolarimetry and high-resolution diffraction-limited imaging that would contribute to future advances in our physical understanding of stellar explosions. In this white paper we focus on several specific scientific impacts in the field of explosive transient astrophysics that will be generated by the combination of LSST's discovery abilities and ELTs' follow-up capacities. First, we map the uncharted frontier of discovery phase-space in terms of intrinsic luminosity and timescales for explosive transients, where we expect the unexpected. We then focus on six areas with open science questions for known transients: the progenitors of thermonuclear supernovae (SNe), mass loss prior to core collapse, asymmetry in stellar explosions, light echoes, high-$z$ transients, and strongly lensed SNe. We conclude with a brief discussion of the practical aspects of ELT & LSST synergy., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Astro2020 call for Science White Papers

We study the sudden optical and ultraviolet (UV) brightening of 1ES 1927+654, which until now was known as a narrow-line active galactic nucleus (AGN). 1ES 1927+654 was part of the small and peculiar class of "true Type-2" AGN, which lack broad emission lines and line-of-sight obscuration. Our high-cadence spectroscopic monitoring captures the appearance of a blue, featureless continuum, followed several weeks later by the appearance of broad Balmer emission lines. This timescale is generally consistent with the expected light travel time between the central engine and the broad-line emission region in (persistent) broad-line AGN. Hubble Space Telescope spectroscopy reveals no evidence for broad UV emission lines (e.g., CIV1549, CIII]1909, MgII2798), probably owing to dust in the broad-line emission region. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case where the lag between the change in continuum and in broad-line emission of a "changing-look" AGN has been temporally resolved. The nature and timescales of the photometric and spectral evolution disfavor both a change in line-of-sight obscuration and a change of the overall rate of gas inflow as driving the drastic spectral transformations seen in this AGN. Although the peak luminosity and timescales are consistent with those of tidal disruption events seen in inactive galaxies, the spectral properties are not. The X-ray emission displays a markedly different behavior, with frequent flares on timescales of hours to days, and will be presented in a companion publication., Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ

The non-detection of companion stars in Type Ia supernova (SN) progenitor systems lends support to the notion of double-degenerate (DD) systems and explosions triggered by the merging of two white dwarfs. This very asymmetric process should lead to a conspicuous polarimetric signature. By contrast, observations consistently find very low continuum polarization as the signatures from the explosion process largely dominate over the pre-explosion configuration within several days. Critical information about the interaction of the ejecta with a companion and any circumstellar matter is encoded in the early polarization spectra. In this study, we obtain spectropolarimetry of SN\,2018gv with the ESO Very Large Telescope at $-$13.6 days relative to the $B-$band maximum light, or $\sim$5 days after the estimated explosion --- the earliest spectropolarimetric observations to date of any Type Ia SN. These early observations still show a low continuum polarization ($\lesssim$0.2\%) and moderate line polarization (0.30$\pm$0.04\% for the prominent \ion{Si}{2} $\lambda$6355 feature and 0.85$\pm$0.04\% for the high-velocity Ca component). The high degree of spherical symmetry implied by the low line and continuum polarization at this early epoch is consistent with explosion models of delayed detonations and is inconsistent with the merger-induced explosion scenario. The dense UV and optical photometry and optical spectroscopy within the first $\sim$100 days after the maximum light indicate that SN\,2018gv is a normal Type Ia SN with similar spectrophotometric behavior to SN\,2011fe., Comment: 55 pages, 22 figures, 6 tables, submitted to AAS journal

In this white paper, we present the scientific cases for adding narrowband optical filters to the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). LSST is currently planning to observe the southern sky in 6 broadband optical filters. Three of the four LSST science themes would benefit from adding narrowband filter observations. We discuss the technical considerations of using narrowband filters with the LSST and lay out the scientific impact that would result on the study of AGB stars, emission line nebula (e.g., supernova remnants and planetary nebulae), photometric redshifts of galaxies, and the determination of stellar parameters., Comment: A White Paper submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey, 7 pages 3 figures

Over the past decade, research in resolved stellar populations has made great strides in exploring the nature of dark matter, in unraveling the star formation, chemical enrichment, and dynamical histories of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, and in probing fundamental physics from general relativity to the structure of stars. Large surveys have been particularly important to the biggest of these discoveries. In the coming decade, current and planned surveys will push these research areas still further through a large variety of discovery spaces, giving us unprecedented views into the low surface brightness Universe, the high surface brightness Universe, the 3D motions of stars, the time domain, and the chemical abundances of stellar populations. These discovery spaces will be opened by a diverse range of facilities, including the continuing Gaia mission, imaging machines like LSST and WFIRST, massively multiplexed spectroscopic platforms like DESI, Subaru-PFS, and MSE, and telescopes with high sensitivity and spatial resolution like JWST, the ELTs, and LUVOIR. We do not know which of these facilities will prove most critical for resolved stellar populations research in the next decade. We can predict, however, that their chance of success will be maximized by granting use of the data to broad communities, that many scientific discoveries will draw on a combination of data from them, and that advances in computing will enable increasingly sophisticated analyses of the large and complex datasets that they will produce. We recommend that Astro2020 1) acknowledge the critical role that data archives will play for stellar populations and other science in the next decade, 2) recognize the opportunity that advances in computing will bring for survey data analysis, and 3) consider investments in Science Platform technology to bring these opportunities to fruition., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, Astro2020 Science White Paper

The field of time-domain astrophysics has entered the era of Multi-messenger Astronomy (MMA). One key science goal for the next decade (and beyond) will be to characterize gravitational wave (GW) and neutrino sources using the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). These studies will have a broad impact across astrophysics, informing our knowledge of the production and enrichment history of the heaviest chemical elements, constrain the dense matter equation of state, provide independent constraints on cosmology, increase our understanding of particle acceleration in shocks and jets, and study the lives of black holes in the universe. Future GW detectors will greatly improve their sensitivity during the coming decade, as will near-infrared telescopes capable of independently finding kilonovae from neutron star mergers. However, the electromagnetic counterparts to high-frequency (LIGO/Virgo band) GW sources will be distant and faint and thus demand ELT capabilities for characterization. ELTs will be important and necessary contributors to an advanced and complete multi-messenger network., Comment: White paper submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey