This thesis reports the discovery of relativistic stellar
explosions outside of the gamma ray band, using optical time domain
surveys. It is well known that some massive stars end their lives
with the formation of a compact object (a neutron star or black
hole) that launches a relativistic jet detectable from earth as a
burst of gamma rays. It has long been suspected, however, that
gamma ray bursts are only the tip of the iceberg in a broad
landscape of relativistic explosions, and so the results presented
in this thesis represent a major breakthrough. Highlights of this
thesis include: characterization of the first major new class of
relativistic explosions in a decade; the discovery of abrupt
end-of-life mass-loss in a surprisingly diverse range of stars; and
the routine discovery of afterglow emission and several events that
may represent baryonically dirty jets or jets viewed slightly off
axis. These discoveries necessitated the solution of difficult
technical challenges such as the identification of rare and
fleeting "needles" in a vast haystack of time-varying phenomena in
the night sky, and responding to discoveries within hours to obtain
data across the electromagnetic spectrum from X-rays to radio
wavelengths.
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