Upper Limits on TeV Emission from Superluminous Supernovae

Superluminous Supernovae (SLSNe) are a rare class of supernova with luminosity 100-1000 times greater than standard supernovae. Different emission models have been proposed for both Type I (hydrogen poor) and Type II (hydrogen rich) SLSNe to explain the strong optical output, such as powering by a central engine or interactions with circumstellar material. High energy gamma-rays may escape from a central engine through an expanding ejecta at late times (10s-100s days), providing a possible signal to explore both the ejecta and central engine. This project searched for high-energy gamma-ray emission (600 MeV to 500 GeV and 200 GeV to 10TeV) from two SLSNe by analyzing data from Fermi-LAT and VERITAS observatories. Both SN2015bn and SN2017egm are Type I SLSNe, which are predicted to be powered by a central compact object, and are bright, worthwhile candidates to search for this late-time emission. No gamma-ray emission was detected from either source in these energy ranges, but upper limits on flux and luminosity were derived.