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Unexpected Observations of Tidal Disruption Events: Diversity and a Preference for E+A Galaxies

סוגAstrophysics Seminar
מרצה:Iair Arcavi
שיוך:LCOGT/KITP
מארגן:Hagai Perets
תאריך:21.05.2014
שעה:14:30 - 15:30
מיקום:Lidow 620
תקציר:A Tidal Disruption Event (TDE) happens to a star which gets close enough to a supermassive black-hole that it is torn apart by gravitational tidal forces. Optical (and possibly also high-energy) flares are thought to accompany such events, but the expected observational signature is still a topic of debate. The best observed optical/UV TDE candidate (Gezari et al. 2012, Nature), surprisingly showed no hydrogen (but only helium) in its spectrum, contrary to previous expectations. I will present the results of an archival search for TDEs in the Palomar Transient Factory database, where we find three such events - one similar to the Gezari et al. (He-rich) TDE, and two which do display hydrogen. Also, we find that these events show a preference for rare post-starburst (E+A) galaxies.