Luminous Type II Short-Plateau SN 2023ufx: Asymmetric Explosion of a Partially-Stripped Massive Progenitor

We present supernova (SN) 2023ufx, a unique Type IIP SN with the shortest known plateau duration ($t_{\mathrm{P}\mathrm{T}}$ $\sim$47 days), a luminous V-band peak ($M_V$ = $-$18.42 $\pm$ 0.08 mag), and a rapid early decline rate ($s1$ = 3.47 $\pm$ 0.09 mag (50 days)${}^{-1}$). By comparing observed photometry to a hydrodynamic MESA+STELLA model grid, we constrain the progenitor to be a massive red supergiant with M${}_{\mathrm{Z}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{M}\mathrm{S}}$ $\simeq$19 - 25 M${}_{\odot }$. Independent comparisons with nebular spectral models also suggest an initial He-core mass of $\sim$6 M${}_{\odot }$, and thus a massive progenitor. For a Type IIP, SN 2023ufx produced an unusually high amount of nickel (${}^{56}$Ni) $\sim$0.14 $\pm$ 0.02 M${}_{\odot }$, during the explosion. We find that the short plateau duration in SN 2023ufx can be explained with the presence of a small hydrogen envelope (M${}_{{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{v}}}$ $\simeq$1.2 M${}_{\odot }$), suggesting partial stripping of the progenitor. About $\simeq$0.09 M${}_{\odot }$ of CSM through mass loss from late-time stellar evolution of the progenitor is needed to fit the early time ($\lesssim$10 days) pseudo-bolometric light curve. Nebular line diagnostics of broad and multi-peak components of [O I] $\lambda \lambda$6300, 6364, H$\alpha$, and [Ca II] $\lambda \lambda$7291, 7323 suggest that the explosion of SN 2023ufx could be inherently asymmetric, preferentially ejecting material along our line-of-sight.