Journal article
IIb or not IIb: A Catalog of ZTF Kilonova Imposters
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, v 137(8), 084105
01 Aug 2025
Abstract
Among the various classes of fast optical transients (FOTs), kilonovae (KNe), which can emerge as a result of neutron star mergers, are extremely challenging to observe because of not only the rapid timescale on which they fade (on the order of days), but also due to the relative scarcity of their occurrence. This scarcity is compounded by the large number of other FOTs that may initially resemble the characteristic rise of a KNe. While these objects can be ruled out as candidate KNe by taking spectroscopy, a method of confidently ruling out transients based on photometric analysis alone would be incredibly valuable. We describe the compilation of various “imposter” transients, including a plurality of IIb SNe, and investigate a number of comparative metrics by which one might be able to remove transients from consideration without the use of spectroscopy. We provide a list of these objects and their classifications as well as a glossary of the transient types included in the sample.
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Details
- Title
- IIb or not IIb: A Catalog of ZTF Kilonova Imposters
- Creators
- Tyler Barna - University of MinnesotaChristoffer Fremling - Division of PhysicsTomas Ahumada - California Institute of TechnologyIgor Andreoni - University of North Carolina at Chapel HillSmaranika Banerjee - Stockholm UniversityJoshua S. Bloom - Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryMattia Bulla - Collurania Teramo ObservatoryTracy X. Chen - California Institute of TechnologyMichael W. Coughlin - University of MinnesotaTim Dietrich - Max Planck Institute for Gravitational PhysicsXander J. Hall - Carnegie Mellon UniversityAlexandra Junell - University of MinnesotaBen Rusholme - California Institute of TechnologyJesper Sollerman - Stockholm UniversityNiharika Sravan - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, v 137(8), 084105
- Publisher
- Institute of Physics
- Number of pages
- 20
- Grant note
- AST-1440341; AST-203443; NRT-1922512; PHY-2117997; PHY-2409481; PHY-259 2308862 / National Science Foundation (https://doi.org/10.13039/100000001) 1254030 / Heising-Simons Foundation (https://doi.org/10.13039/100014155)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Physics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001553867700001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105013862392
- Other Identifier
- 991022084536904721