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We present an exquisite 30 minute cadence Kepler (K2) light curve of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2018oh (ASASSN-18bt), starting weeks before explosion, covering the moment of explosion and the subsequent rise, and continuing past peak brightness. These data are supplemented by multi-color Panoramic Survey Telescope (Pan-STARRS1) and Rapid Response System 1 and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 4 m Dark Energy Camera (CTIO 4-m DECam) observations obtained within hours of explosion. The K2 light curve has an unusual twocomponent shape, where the flux rises with a steep linear gradient for the first few days, followed by a quadratic rise as seen for typical supernovae (SNe)Ia. This "flux excess" relative to canonical SNIa behavior is confirmed in our i-band light curve, and furthermore, SN 2018oh is especially blue during the early epochs. The flux excess peaks 2.14±0.04 days after explosion, has a FWHM of 3.12±0.04 days, a blackbody temperature of T 17, 500 9,000 11,500 =-+ K, a peak luminosity of 4.3 0.2 10 erg s 37 1 ´-, and a total integrated energy of 1.27 0.01 10 erg 43 ´. We compare SN 2018oh to several models that may provide additional heating at early times, including collision with a companion and a shallow concentration of radioactive nickel. While all of these models generally reproduce the early K2 light curve shape, we slightly favor a companion interaction, at a distance of ∼2 10 cm 12 based on our early color measurements, although the exact distance depends on the uncertain viewing angle. Additional confirmation of a companion interaction in future modeling and observations of SN 2018oh would provide strong support for a single-degenerate progenitor system.

We present the results of an extensive observing campaign designed to study the evolution of parsecscale radio structure in the nucleus of the AGN galaxy BL Lacertae. The observations spanned 17 epochs from 1994.7 to 1998.3. The VLBA observations, made at regular intervals at 15, 22, and 43 GHz, show the ejection and evolution of four highly polarized superluminal components (denoted S7ÈS10). The trajectories of all components were signiÐcantly curved, with the slowest component (S8) exhibiting the most bending. All four components had nearly constant apparent speeds, at least between 1 and 3 mas separation from the core. Extrapolation of the core-component separation to a zero spacing epoch suggests that they may have been created in pairs, with fast and slow counterparts. Each superluminal component was moderately linearly polarized at all observed frequencies. The electric vector position angle (EVPA) was frequency independent but changed with core-component separation for all four components, with total EVPA rotation varying from 30¡ (S7) to 80¡ (S8). There was no preferred EVPA orientation with respect to the jet axis when components were young, i.e., close to the core. However, three of the four componentsÏ EVPAs rotated to within 20¡ of the jet direction at later epochs, consistent with emission from transverse shocks. The core was nearly unpolarized at 15 GHz, except when a new superluminal component was just emerging. At higher frequencies (22 and 43 GHz) core fractional polarization was low with a quadratic frequency dependence. We applied HardeeÏs model of helical twisting on an adiabatically expanding jet to explain the observed bent component trajectories. By searching the parameter space of allowed helical geometries, we found a best-Ðt set of parameters with Ðxed opening and line of sight angles for all four components. The preferred helical geometry was described by a line of sight angle #^9¡ and a jet half-opening angle (^2¡. Individual component trajectories were Ðtted by varying initial conditions at the throat of the jet and the initial helical wavelength scale. Although the position along the jet and apparent speed are consistent with the helical model, the predicted polarization position angles are not in good agreement. We derived physical properties in the emission regions by assuming that they are due to optically thin synchrotron radiative shocks within a underlying relativistic Ñow. Using the observed fractional polarization and jet-interjet intensity ratio along with the helix-line of sight angle as constraints, we found that slower components (S8, S10) are consistent with forward shocks, while faster components (S7, S9) could be either forward or reverse shocks. Derived shock compression ratios vary from weak (k D 0.5È0.8) for slow component S8 to moderately strong (k D 0.0È0.5) for fast component S9. As of epoch 1998.2, there have been no unusual features in the parsec-scale radio structure following the large opticalÈgamma-ray Ñare at epoch 1997.6.

Hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) have been predominantly found in low-metallicity, star-forming dwarf galaxies. Here we identify Gaia17biu/SN 2017egm as an SLSN-I occurring in a "normal" spiral galaxy (NGC 3191) in terms of stellar mass (several times 10 10 M ) and metallicity (roughly Solar). At redshift z = 0.031, Gaia17biu is also the lowest redshift SLSN-I to date, and the absence of a larger population of SLSNe-I in dwarf galaxies of similar redshift suggests that metallicity is likely less important to the production of SLSNe-I than previously believed. With the smallest distance and highest apparent brightness for an SLSN-I, we are able to study Gaia17biu in unprecedented detail. Its pre-peak near-ultraviolet to optical color is similar to that of Gaia16apd and among the bluest observed for an SLSN-I while its peak luminosity (M g = −21 mag) is substantially lower than Gaia16apd. Thanks to the high signal-to-noise ratios of our spectra, we identify several new spectroscopic features that may help to probe the properties of these enigmatic explosions. We detect polarization at the ∼ 0.5% level that is not strongly dependent on wavelength, suggesting a modest, global departure from spherical symmetry. In addition, we put the tightest upper limit yet on the radio luminosity of an SLSN-I with < 5.4 × 10 26 erg s −1 Hz −1 at 10 GHz, which is almost a factor of 40 better than previous upper limits and one of the few measured at an early stage in the evolution of an SLSN-I. This limit largely rules out an association of this SLSNe-I with known populations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) like central engines.

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 56 Ni 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×10 5 cm −3 at a radius of 4×10 15 cm from the progenitor star. Assuming a wind-like environment, we place mass loss limits of M M 8 10 yr 6 1 <´-☉ 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.