A paper published in the February 2025 issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society details the discovery and follow-up of a peculiar supernova led by the GOTO collaboration. Read the full paper here.
The dying star SN2023tsz was an uncommon type of supernova that was discovered by GOTO. Known as a type Ibn supernova, this type occurs when a star has lost all of its hydrogen before its death and is surrounded by helium. SN2023tsz was the first time GOTO both discovered and led the follow-up of a supernova.
In addition to being a first for GOTO, SN2023tsz is a very interesting event. The leading model for type Ibn supernovae have them being the death of massive stars. These stars are more common in larger galaxies. However, SN2023tsz occurred in an exceptionally small galaxy. Despite this unusual location for such a supernova, SN2023tsz appears typical in all other aspects. This makes it even more intriguing as it suggests either that there are multiple scenarios that can lead to a typical type Ibn, or that another scenario, other than the leading model, that is responsible for the majority of type Ibn supernovae.
