Superluminous supernovae

TL;DR

Superluminous supernovae are a recently identified class of extremely bright stellar explosions, with recent observational and theoretical advances exploring their luminosity sources such as radioactive decay, ejecta interaction, and magnetar spin-down.

Contribution

This review summarizes recent observational properties and compares the main theoretical models explaining the high luminosity of superluminous supernovae.

Findings

Comparison of luminosity models reveals strengths and weaknesses.

Observational properties help distinguish between different theoretical explanations.

Recent progress enhances understanding of superluminous supernova mechanisms.

Abstract

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 observational properties of superluminous supernovae. We then introduce the three major suggested luminosity sources to explain the huge luminosities of superluminous supernovae, i.e., the nuclear decay of 56Ni, the interaction between supernova ejecta and dense circumstellar media, and the spin down of magnetars. We compare these models and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.