Program: GS-2023A-FT-109

We propose to capitalize on the unique opportunity to acquire very late-time NIR spectroscopy of a Ic-BL supernova 2022xxf in the nebular phase, at the unprecedented epoch of >200 days since explosion. SN2022xxf represents a once-in-a-decade event, as (i) it belongs to this rare type of Ic-BL SNe and (ii) it exploded in the very nearby galaxy NGC3705 at only 12.9 Mpc. During the first 150 days SN2022xxf further displayed a remarkable photometric evolution characterized by two light-curve peaks, the second of which was powered by shock interaction with a H-poor medium. Here we propose to spectroscopically map its transition to the nebular phase in the NIR, with the overarching goals to reveal the properties of the inner ejecta and to constrain r-process nucleosynthesis in a collapsar.