Movies of the heavens, produced by modern synoptic imaging surveys, are
revolutionizing the field of cosmic explosions in astronomy. Recent discoveries
suggest entirely new pathways for the deaths of massive stars, and the
observational case for pair-instability supernovae has now been made. Other,
unexplained optical transient phenomena have engendered a wide range of models
as typified by the long duration and spectroscopically peculiar event SCP06F6
(theories range from a Texas sized asteroid impacting a white dwarf to the
Quimby et al. 2009, Submitted to Nature
