PS1-14bj: A Hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernova with a Long Rise and Slow Decay.

Abstract

We present photometry and spectroscopy of PS1-14bj, a hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN) at redshift z = 0.5215 discovered in the last months of the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. PS1-14bj stands out by its extremely slow evolution, with an observed rise of ∼ > 125 restframe days, and exponential decline out to ∼ 250 days past peak at a measured rate of 0.01 mag day−1, consistent with fully-trapped 56Co decay. This is the longest rise time measured in a SLSN to date, and the first SLSN to show a rise time consistent with pair-instability supernova (PISN) models. Compared to other slowly-evolving SLSNe, it is spectroscopically similar to the prototype SN 2007bi at maximum light, though lower in luminosity (Lpeak ≃ 4.6×1043ergs−1) and with a flatter peak than previous events. PS1-14bj shows a number of peculiar properties, including a near-constant color temperature for > 200 days past peak, and strong emission lines from [O III] λ5007 and [O III] λ4363 with a velocity width of ∼3400 km s−1 in its late-time spectra. These both suggest there is a sustained source of heating over very long timescales, and are incompatible with a simple 56Ni-powered/PISN interpretation. A modified magnetar model including emission leakage at late times can reproduce the light curve, in which case the blue continuum and [O III] features are interpreted as material heated and ionized by the inner pulsar wind nebula becoming visible at late times. Alternatively, the late-time heating could be due to interaction with a shell of H-poor circumstellar material.