UCSB Astrophysics

§ 01Research · 02 / 06

Stars, explosions & transients

How stars live and die: stellar pulsations, accreting white dwarfs, thermonuclear flashes, and the supernovae, kilonovae and tidal disruption events caught by the Las Cumbres Observatory robotic network.

All research themes

Image: Crab Nebula. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, T. Temim (Princeton)

§ 02People

Faculty

Each portrait links to a profile page.

§ 03On the sky

On the sky

Objects tied to this theme's research, placed on the sky over Broida Hall. Positions are computed in your browser.

Positions are computed in the browser and need JavaScript.

NSEW

Zenith at the center, horizon at the rim, rings at 30° and 60° altitude. North up, east left, as seen looking up. Stars to magnitude 4.5.

  1. Supernova

    SN 2023ixf

    RA 14h 03.6m · Dec +54° 19′

    6.95 Mpc

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    Rises
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    Andy Howell

  2. Supernova

    SN 2017gmr

    RA 02h 35.5m · Dec −09° 21′

    15 Mpc

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    Rises
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    Andy HowellLars Bildsten

  3. Supernova

    SN 2021aefx

    RA 04h 19.9m · Dec −54° 57′

    6.61 Mpc

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    Rises
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    Andy Howell

  4. Pulsar

    Crab Nebula & Pulsar

    RA 05h 34.5m · Dec +22° 01′

    2.0 kpc

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    Remnant of the supernova of 1054. MKID cameras built at UCSB have timed its pulsar's optical pulses photon by photon.

    Ben Mazin

  5. Supernova

    SN 2012Z

    RA 03h 22.1m · Dec −15° 23′

    31.2 Mpc

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    Rises
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    Andy HowellLars Bildsten

  6. Supernova

    SN 2017cbv

    RA 14h 32.6m · Dec −44° 08′

    17.8 Mpc

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    Rises
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    Andy Howell

  7. Supernova

    SN 2021yja

    RA 03h 24.4m · Dec −21° 34′

    23 Mpc

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    Rises
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    Andy Howell

All the group's targets on the full sky map

§ 04Publications

Recent papers

The newest papers in this theme, from NASA ADS. Group members are in gold.

  1. 01Oct 2026ApJL
    JWST Observations of SN 2024abup: First Detection of CO in a Broad-lined Type Ic Supernova and Constraints on r-process NucleosynthesisM. Shrestha, L. A. Kwok, D. J. Sand, S. Barmentloo, C. Christy, A. Jerkstrand, K. A. Bostroem, J. E. Andrews et al. (45 authors); UCSB: D. A. Howell, C. McCully, K. WynnStars & transients
    arXiv:2606.28561
  2. 02Oct 2026ApJ
    JWST Nebular Spectroscopy of SN 2023qov: Circumstellar Dust Emission in a Normal Type Ia SupernovaC. W. Macrie, C. Larison, H. Sears, L. A. Kwok, S. W. Jha, M. Dai, J. Johansson, S. Blondin et al. (46 authors); UCSB: D. A. HowellStars & transients
    arXiv:2604.09777
  3. 03Sep 2026arXiv
    Nearby Supernova Science in the Era of High Cadence, Deep Time Domain SurveysD. J. Sand, B. Subrayan, C. L. Ransome, G. Hosseinzadeh, K. A. Bostroem, J. E. Andrews, J. Pearson, Y. Dong et al. (44 authors); UCSB: D. A. Howell, C. McCullyStars & transients
    arXiv:2609.38304
  4. 04Sep 2026arXiv
    The 91T/99aa-like Type Ia Supernova 2019vrq, Part I: Photometry, Spectroscopy, and Spectropolarimetry of a Nearly Standard CandleY. Yang, P. Hoeflich, J. C. Wheeler, D. Baade, L. Wang, A. Cikota, D. A. Howell, C. McCully et al. (19 authors)Stars & transients
    arXiv:2609.31510
  5. 05Sep 2026arXiv
    Tomography analysis of the intermediate-luminosity Type Iax SN 2024pxlB. Barna, M. Singh, L. A. Kwok, S. W. Jha, R. Dastidar, C. Larison, A. V. Filippenko, J. P. Anderson et al. (93 authors); UCSB: D. A. Howell, C. McCullyStars & transients
    arXiv:2609.28712
  6. 06Sep 2026arXiv
    3D Radiation Hydrodynamics of Blue Supergiant EnvelopesL. Ma, L. Bildsten, Y.-F. JiangStars & transients
    arXiv:2609.28656
  7. 07Sep 2026arXiv
    Early NIR echo and the time variable mass loss history of Type IIn SN 2024kgiN. Dukiya, K. Misra, A. Pastorello, A. Reguitti, A. Gangopadhyay, A. P. Ravi, B. Hsu, N. Franz et al. (33 authors); UCSB: D. A. Howell, C. McCully, K. WynnStars & transients
    arXiv:2609.25233
  8. 08Sep 2026arXiv
    A Proliferated Space Architecture for Time-Domain AstrophysicsD. Kocevski, E. Burns, T. Barclay, N. E. White, M. Galeazzi, B. O'Connor, A. Lien, C. Fryer et al. (61 authors); UCSB: D. A. HowellStars & transients
    arXiv:2609.12153
  9. 09Sep 2026arXiv
    SN 2025fhm: A central-engine powered Ic-BL supernova associated with X-ray transient EP250304aC.-Y. Song, N. Jiang, X. Wang, Y.-H. I. Yin, L. Wang, W. Li, S. Yan, D.-S. Moon et al. (35 authors); UCSB: K. Wynn, D. A. Howell, C. McCullyStars & transients
    arXiv:2609.08356
  10. 10Sep 2026ApJ
    SN 2019cqc: A Hydrogen-rich Superluminous Supernova Showing Electron-scattering SignaturesD. Hebbar, R. Roy, M. Nicholl, J. Sollerman, J. P. Anderson, M. Gromadzki, D. A. Howell, T. Kangas et al. (18 authors); UCSB: C. McCullyStars & transients
    arXiv:2608.30309
  11. 11Sep 2026ApJ
    AT 2022csn: A Photometrically Peculiar Optical/UV Tidal Disruption Event in a Type II AGNY. Dgany, I. Arcavi, G. Zeltyn, S. Gomez, D. Hiramatsu, B. Trakhtenbrot, M. Newsome, D. Baron et al. (21 authors); UCSB: D. A. HowellStars & transients
    arXiv:2608.02725
  12. 12Sep 2026MNRAS
    SN 2022xus: bridging the gap between Type IIP and IIL supernovaeM. Dubey, K. Misra, N. Dukiya, K. Pranshu, R. Dastidar, K. A. Bostroem, Y. Dong, J. R. Farah et al. (19 authors); UCSB: D. A. Howell, C. McCullyStars & transients
    arXiv:2607.25323
  13. 13Sep 2026A&A
    EP251023a: A fast X-ray transient featuring a magnetar-powered optical internal plateau followed by a steep decayS. Jiang, D. Xu, W. Lei, J. An, Y. Zou, Z. Zhu, R. Chornock, D. Svinkin et al. (37 authors); UCSB: D. A. Howell, C. McCully, K. WynnStars & transients
    arXiv:2606.24329
  14. 14Aug 2026arXiv
    AT 2016blu: Accretion-Powered Outbursts in a Luminous Blue Variable and Compact Object BinaryM. Aghakhanloo, N. Torres-Albà, N. Smith, R. Baer-Way, S. Mohamed, A. V. Filippenko, W. Zheng, T. G. Brink et al. (36 authors); UCSB: D. A. Howell, C. McCully, K. WynnStars & transients
    arXiv:2608.20469
  15. 15Aug 2026arXiv
    No Evidence for Nearby Circumstellar Material in the Type Ia Supernova 2025rbsA. P. Ravi, G. Hosseinzadeh, S. Valenti, S. W. Jha, J. Andrews, D. J. Sand, B. J. Fulton, W. D. Vacca et al. (31 authors); UCSB: D. A. Howell, C. McCullyStars & transients
    arXiv:2608.13655

All 261 papers in this theme since 2020

§ 05News

Related news

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