Clues To The Nature of SN 2009ip from Photometric and Spectroscopic Evolution to Late Times

Understand

We present time series photometric and spectroscopic data for the transient SN 2009ip from the start of its outburst in September 2012 until November 2013.

• This data was collected primarily with the new robotic capabilities of the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, a specialized facility for time domain astrophysics, and includes supporting high-resolution spectroscopy from the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope, Kitt Peak National Observatory, and Gemini Observatory.
• Based on our nightly photometric monitoring, we interpret the strength and timing of fluctuations in the light curve as interactions between fast-moving ejecta and an inhomogeneous CSM produced by past eruptions of this massive luminous blue variable (LBV) star.
• Our time series of spectroscopy in 2012 reveals that, as the continuum and narrow H-alpha flux from CSM interactions declines, the broad component of H-alpha persists with SN-like velocities that are not typically seen in LBVs or SN Impostor events.