Obscured Supernovae in Starburst Galaxies

About one core-collapse supernova (CCSN) is expected to explode every 5-10 years in the nuclear regions of M 82 and other nearby starburst galaxies. In luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) such as the interacting system Arp 299 (NGC 3690 + IC 0694) at least one CCSN can be expected every year. Due to the high dust extinction most of these SNe have remained undetected. Here we show results from two near-IR searches we have recently carried out to detect obscured SNe in nearby starburst galaxies and LIRGs.