NGC 2770—a SN Ib factory?

NCG 2770 drew a lot of attention when a SN Ib connected to an X‐ray outburst was discovered in this nearby spiral galaxy. The galaxy turned out to have hosted two other Type Ib SNe 1999 (SN 199 eh) and 2007 (SN 2007 uy). We investigate the global properties of the galaxy and compare it with other galaxies hosting several supernovae. There are no obvious properties that would indicate an enhanced SN rate in NGC 2770, except a high mass of neutral hydrogen. The local properties at the SN sites studied by longslit spectrosocpy reveal subsolar metallicity, high extinction, but a low star‐formation rate and not a particularly young age of the stellar population. The properties at the site of SN 2008D does not support a GRB‐like origin for the X‐ray outburst. Comparison with other nearby galaxies hosting several SNe and statistical evaluation of SN probabilities in NGC 2770 suggest that the frequent occurrence of SN Ib was a mere coincidence.