Gokul Srinivasaragavan (University of Maryland)

We are entering an era in time-domain astronomy where understanding the diversity of relativistic stellar explosions has become more fruitful than ever. Recent time-domain surveys, including the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), have helped discover numerous transients that exist somewhere in the continuum of relativistic stellar explosions, ranging from non-relativistic ordinary broad-lined Type Ic core-collapse supernovae (SNe) to highly-relativistic gamma-ray burst (GRB) - SN events. These surveys and new facilities have also opened the door to studying other relativistic transients that are not associated with a gamma-ray trigger, such as orphan afterglows and x-ray flashes. During this talk, I will explore the continuum of relativistic stellar explosions, highlighting studies that aim to illuminate major open questions in every regime. I will also discuss how the next generation of surveys and missions can help unravel this complex landscape.