Kaustav Das (Caltech)

Core-collapse supernovae (CC SNe), the explosive deaths of massive stars, play a pivotal role in galactic chemical evolution, star formation, and the creation of neutron stars or black holes. However, the fate of stars in the ~8–12 solar mass range remains poorly understood. These stars occupy the critical boundary between those that form neutron stars and those that end as white dwarfs. Despite comprising ~50% of massive stars that explode, such events are rarely observed, likely due to their connection with faint, hard-to-detect low-luminosity SNe. I will present results from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) Census of the Local Universe, the largest volumetric SN survey to date, focusing on the landscape of low-luminosity CC SNe. By examining candidate SNe in this mass range, I will evaluate whether they can account for the missing SNe population and provide insights into the fate of these stars. I will summarize the implications for the next generation of time-domain surveys, focusing on how to most effectively use these observations to connect the final stages of stellar evolution and the birth of neutron stars and black holes to the observed characteristics of SNe.