Ultra-Luminous Supernovae as a New Probe of the Interstellar Medium in
  Distant Galaxies
  We present the Pan-STARRS1 discovery and light curves, and follow-up MMT and
Gemini spectroscopy of an ultra-luminous supernova (ULSN; dubbed PS1-11bam) at
a redshift of z=1.566 with a peak brightness of M_UV=-22.3 mag. PS1-11bam is
one of the highest redshift spectroscopically-confirmed SNe known to date. The
spectrum is characterized by broad absorption features typical of previous
ULSNe (e.g., CII, SiIII), and by strong and narrow MgII and FeII absorption
lines from the interstellar medium (ISM) of the host galaxy, confirmed by an
[OII]3727 emission line at the same redshift. The equivalent widths of the
FeII2600 and MgII2803 lines are in the top quartile of the quasar intervening
absorption system distribution, but are weaker than those of gamma-ray burst
intrinsic absorbers (i.e., GRB host galaxies). We also detect the host galaxy
in pre-explosion Pan-STARRS1 data and find that its UV spectral energy
distribution is best fit with a young stellar population age of tau~15-45 Myr
and a stellar mass of M \sim (1.1-2.6)x10^9 M_sun (for Z=0.05-1 Z_sun). The
star formation rate inferred from the UV continuum and [OII]3727 emission line
is ~10 M_sun/yr, higher than in any previous ULSN host. PS1-11bam provides the
first direct demonstration that ULSNe can serve as probes of the interstellar
medium in distant galaxies. At the present, the depth and red sensitivity of
PS1 are uniquely suited to finding such events at cosmologically interesting
redshifts (z~1-2); the future combination of LSST and 30-m class telescopes
promises to extend this technique to z~4.
