Follow-up phot. & sp. of type IIP SN2018lab

SN 2018lab was discovered by the Distance Less Than 40Mpc (DLT40) SN survey only 0.73d post-explosion, as determined by observations from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). TESS observations of SN 2018lab yield a densely sampled, fast-rising, early-time light curve likely powered by ejecta-circumstellar medium (CSM) interaction.

The blueshifted, broadened flash feature in the earliest spectra (<2d) of SN 2018lab provides further evidence for ejecta-CSM interaction. The early emission features in the spectra of SN 2018lab are well described by models of a red supergiant progenitor with an extended envelope and a close-in CSM. As one of the few LLSNe with observed flash features, SN 2018lab highlights the need for more early spectra to explain the diversity of the flash feature morphology of Type II SNe.