# A six year image-subtraction light curve of SN 2010jl

## TL;DR

This paper presents a six-year optical light curve of SN 2010jl, a luminous Type IIn supernova, using image subtraction techniques to analyze its long-term brightness decline and infer properties of its circumstellar environment.

## Contribution

It provides a detailed, long-term optical light curve of SN 2010jl and discusses the performance of the image subtraction pipeline used for data analysis.

## Key findings

- The R-band light curve follows a power-law decline with index -0.5 up to 300 days.
- Between 300 and 2300 days, the decline steepens to a power-law index of -3.4.
- The long-lasting light curve indicates extensive circumstellar material ejected years before explosion.

## Abstract

SN2010jl was a luminous Type IIn supernova (SN), detected in radio, optical, X-ray and hard X-rays. Here we report on its six year R- and g-band light curves obtained using the Palomar Transient Factory. The light curve was generated using a pipeline based on the proper image subtraction method and we discuss the algorithm performances. As noted before, the R-band light curve, up to about 300 days after maximum light is well described by a power-law decline with a power-law index of about -0.5. Between day 300 and day 2300 after maximum light, it is consistent with a power-law decline, with a power-law index of about -3.4. The longevity of the light curve suggests that the massive circum-stellar material around the progenitor was ejected on time scales of at least tens of years prior to the progenitor explosion.