Gaia17biu/SN 2017egm in NGC 3191: The closest hydrogen-poor
  superluminous supernova to date is in a "normal", massive, metal-rich spiral
  galaxy
  Hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) have been predominantly
found in low-metallicity, star-forming dwarf galaxies. Here we identify
Gaia17biu/SN 2017egm as an SLSN-I occurring in a "normal" spiral galaxy (NGC
3191) in terms of stellar mass (several times 10^10 M_sun) and metallicity
(roughly Solar). At redshift z=0.031, Gaia17biu is also the lowest redshift
SLSN-I to date, and the absence of a larger population of SLSNe-I in dwarf
galaxies of similar redshift suggests that metallicity is likely less important
to the production of SLSNe-I than previously believed. With the smallest
distance and highest apparent brightness for an SLSN-I, we are able to study
Gaia17biu in unprecedented detail. Its pre-peak near-ultraviolet to optical
color is similar to that of Gaia16apd and among the bluest observed for an
SLSN-I while its peak luminosity (M_g = -21 mag) is substantially lower than
Gaia16apd. Thanks to the high signal-to-noise ratios of our spectra, we
identify several new spectroscopic features that may help to probe the
properties of these enigmatic explosions. We detect polarization at the ~0.5%
level that is not strongly dependent on wavelength, suggesting a modest, global
departure from spherical symmetry. In addition, we put the tightest upper limit
yet on the radio luminosity of an SLSN-I with <5.4x10^26 erg/s/Hz (at 10 GHz),
which is almost a factor of 40 better than previous upper limits and one of the
few measured at an early stage in the evolution of an SLSN-I. This limit
largely rules out an association of this SLSNe-I with known populations of
gamma-ray burst (GRB) like central engines.
