Type II supernovae ( SNe ) stem from the core collapse of massive ( > 8 M _ { \odot } ) stars .
Owing to their short lifespan , we expect a very low rate of such events in elliptical host galaxies , where the star-formation rate is low , and which mostly consist of an old stellar population .
SN 2016hil ( iPTF16hil ) is a Type II supernova located in the extreme outskirts of an elliptical galaxy at redshift z = 0.0608 ( projected distance 27.2 kpc ) .
It was detected near peak brightness ( M _ { r } \approx - 17 mag ) 9 days after the last nondetection .
SN 2016hil has some potentially peculiar properties : while presenting a characteristic spectrum , the event was unusually short lived and declined by \sim 1.5 mag in < 40 days , following an apparently double-peaked light curve .
Its spectra suggest a low metallicity ( Z < 0.4 Z _ { \odot } ) .
We place a tentative upper limit on the mass of a potential faint host at \log ( M / M _ { \odot } ) = 7.27 ^ { +0.43 } _ { -0.24 } using deep Keck optical imaging .
In light of this , we discuss the possibility of the progenitor forming locally , and other more exotic formation scenarios such as a merger or common-envelope evolution causing a time-delayed explosion .
Further observations of the explosion site in the ultraviolet are needed in order to distinguish between the cases .
Regardless of the origin of the transient , observing a population of such seemingly hostless Type II SNe could have many uses , including an estimate the number of faint galaxies in a given volume , and tests of the prediction of a time-delayed population of core-collapse SNe in locations otherwise unfavorable for the detection of such events .