New observational constraints on the progenitors and remnants of massive-star explosions

I will review briefly over a decade of effort on the study of cosmic explosions, with a focus on observations

of "infant supernovae" - explosions discovered very shortly (~1 day or less) after explosion. I will show how

such observations enable studies of both the progenitor stars and the explosions, and review a few highlight

results. I will show how recently we begin to also probe the nature of the post-explosion remnants (neutron stars or black holes) moving us closer to answering some fundamental questions about the death of massive stars and the birth of black holes. I will discuss future prospects and how these drive and benefit from forthcoming large projects in Israel and abroad.