A new class of stellar outbursts dwarfing the most powerful supernovae observed in the past century has recently been uncovered by wide field optical imaging surveys. With peak luminosities in excess of 10^44 erg/s and total radiative outputs greater than 10^51 erg, these events push the limits of conventional supernova explosion theory. A few of these events have now been monitored by Swift, and these observations reveal high-UV luminosities as well. These super-luminous supernovae (SLSNe) are thus of great potential interest for probing the high redshift universe, but current constraints on their (time-variable) UV spectral energy distributions are weak. This leads to significant uncertainties as to the observational signatures of high-redshift SLSNe in optical or IR studies. To address this, we propose a ToO program for NUV spectroscopy to follow-up new SLSNe discoveries in Cycle 19 supplemented with Swift UV photometry and ground based optical imaging and spectroscopy from the Keck and Palomar observatories. We will acquire NUV spectra of one superluminous supernova (SLSN) with the UVIS G280 grism on WFC3 over four epochs to monitor its spectral evolution. Each observation will consist of a single orbit. The first observation should take place soon after the target is discovered and spectroscopically confirmed from the ground. Subsequent observations may be scheduled at 7 to 14 day intervals and are thus non-disruptive. Our targets will be supplied by PTF survey, although we could include discoveries from ROTSE-III or elsewhere in exceptional circumstances. Targets must have spectroscopically confirmed redshifts and be classified as SLSNe. HOT STARS 12 false 0.0 0.0 false false false false SUPPORTED STAR SUPERNOVA J2000 STAR SUPERNOVA J2000 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 WFC3/UVIS Spectroscopic No No G280 The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.0. CASM was run in Phase II mode. NUV spectra of PTF11rks 1326793376000 70.10015655317719 (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "01" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20120312" :date "22-May-2012 20:33:41.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "29" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 1154976 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "01" :obset-id "01" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 2924 :al-overhead-at-end 116 :internal-dur-at-end 668 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3257 :pcs-gap 0 ) true 1 0 Timing link suitability includes constraints ([03 After 02 by 3.0 to 45.0 days]) The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.0. CASM was run in Phase II mode. NUV spectra of PTF12dam 1337996727000 153.58183193764557 (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "02" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20120312" :date "22-May-2012 20:33:42.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "29" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 1443728 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "02" :obset-id "02" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "02" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 3058 :al-overhead-at-end 116 :internal-dur-at-end 352 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3391 :pcs-gap 0 ) true 1 0 Timing link suitability includes constraints ([03 After 02 by 3.0 to 45.0 days] [04 After 03 by 7.0 to 50.0 days]) The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.0. CASM was run in Phase II mode. NUV spectra of PTF12dam 1338741841000 146.17539286731022 (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "03" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20120312" :date "22-May-2012 17:03:16.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "29" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 1443728 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "03" :obset-id "03" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "03" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 3058 :al-overhead-at-end 116 :internal-dur-at-end 352 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3391 :pcs-gap 0 ) true 1 0 Timing link suitability includes constraints ([04 After 03 by 7.0 to 50.0 days]) The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.0. CASM was run in Phase II mode. NUV spectra of PTF12dam (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "04" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20120312" :date "22-May-2012 17:05:54.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "29" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 1443728 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "04" :obset-id "04" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "04" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 3058 :al-overhead-at-end 116 :internal-dur-at-end 352 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3391 :pcs-gap 0 ) true 1 0 NUV spectra of PTF12dam This is a repeat of visit 03 which was lost due to a safing. (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "03" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20120312" :date "22-May-2012 17:03:16.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "29" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 1443728 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "03" :obset-id "03" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12524 :visit-id "03" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 3058 :al-overhead-at-end 116 :internal-dur-at-end 352 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3391 :pcs-gap 0 ) false 1 0