87 research outputs found
Calcium-rich gap transients in the remote outskirts of galaxies
From the first two seasons of the Palomar Transient Factory, we identify three peculiar transients (PTF09dav, PTF10iuv, PTF11bij) with five distinguishing characteristics: peak luminosity in the gap between novae and supernovae (M_R ≈ - 15.5 to -16.5), rapid photometric evolution (t_(rise) ≈12-15 days), large photospheric velocities (≈6000 to 11000 km s^(-1)), early spectroscopic evolution into nebular phase (≈1 to 3 months) and peculiar nebular spectra dominated by Calcium. We also culled the extensive decade-long Lick Observatory Supernova Search database and identified an additional member of this group, SN 2007ke. Our choice of photometric and spectroscopic properties was motivated by SN 2005E (Perets et al. 2010). To our surprise, as in the case of SN 2005E, all four members of this group are also clearly offset from the bulk of their host galaxy. Given the well-sampled early and late-time light curves, we derive ejecta masses in the range of 0.4--0.7 M_⊙. Spectroscopically, we find that there may be a diversity in the photospheric phase, but the commonality is in the unusual nebular spectra. Our extensive follow-up observations rule out standard thermonuclear and standard core-collapse explosions for this class of "Calcium-rich gap" transients. If the progenitor is a white dwarf, we are likely seeing a detonation of the white dwarf core and perhaps, even shock-front interaction with a previously ejected nova shell. In the less likely scenario of a massive star progenitor, a very non-standard channel specific to a low-metallicity environment needs to be invoked (e.g., ejecta fallback leading to black hole formation). Detection (or lack thereof) of a faint underlying host (dwarf galaxy, cluster) will provide a crucial and decisive diagnostic to choose between these alternatives
Radio Properties of Tidal Disruption Events
Radio observations of tidal disruption events (TDEs) probe material ejected
by the disruption of stars by supermassive black holes (SMBHs), uniquely
tracing the formation and evolution of jets and outflows, revealing details of
the disruption hydrodynamics, and illuminating the environments around
previously-dormant SMBHs. To date, observations reveal a surprisingly diverse
population. A small fraction of TDEs (at most a few percent) have been observed
to produce radio-luminous mildly relativistic jets. The remainder of the
population are radio quiet, producing less luminous jets, non-relativistic
outflows or, possibly, no radio emission at all. Here, we review the radio
observations that have been made of TDEs to date and discuss possible
explanations for their properties, focusing on detected sources and, in
particular, on the two best-studied events: Sw J1644+57 and ASASSN-14li. We
also discuss what we have learned about the host galaxies of TDEs from radio
observations and review constraints on the rates of bright and faint radio
outflows in TDEs. Upcoming X-ray, optical, near-IR, and radio surveys will
greatly expand the sample of TDEs, and technological advances open the exciting
possibility of discovering a sample of TDEs in the radio band unbiased by host
galaxy extinction.Comment: Resubmitted for publication in Springer Space Science Reviews
following referee comments. Chapter in ISSI review "The Tidal Disruption of
Stars by Massive Black Holes" vol. 79. Table 2 is available in
machine-readable format upon reques
Type Ibn Supernovae Show Photometric Homogeneity and Spectral Diversity at Maximum Light
Type Ibn supernovae (SNe) are a small yet intriguing class of explosions whose spectra are characterized by low-velocity helium emission lines with little to no evidence for hydrogen. The prevailing theory has been that these are the core-collapse explosions of very massive stars embedded in helium-rich circumstellar material (CSM). We report optical observations of six new SNe Ibn: PTF11rfh, PTF12ldy, iPTF14aki, iPTF15ul, SN 2015G, and iPTF15akq. This brings the sample size of such objects in the literature to 22. We also report new data, including a near-infrared spectrum, on the Type Ibn SN 2015U. In order to characterize the class as a whole, we analyze the photometric and spectroscopic properties of the full Type Ibn sample. We find that, despite the expectation that CSM interaction would generate a heterogeneous set of light curves, as seen in SNe IIn, most Type Ibn light curves are quite similar in shape, declining at rates around 0.1 mag day^(−1) during the first month after maximum light, with a few significant exceptions. Early spectra of SNe Ibn come in at least two varieties, one that shows narrow P Cygni lines and another dominated by broader emission lines, both around maximum light, which may be an indication of differences in the state of the progenitor system at the time of explosion. Alternatively, the spectral diversity could arise from viewing-angle effects or merely from a lack of early spectroscopic coverage. Together, the relative light curve homogeneity and narrow spectral features suggest that the CSM consists of a spatially confined shell of helium surrounded by a less dense extended wind
The Lensed Arc Production Efficiency of Galaxy Clusters: A Comparison of Matched Observed and Simulated Samples
We compare the statistical properties of giant gravitationally lensed arcs
produced in matched simulated and observed cluster samples. The observed sample
consists of 10 X-ray selected clusters at redshifts z ~ 0.2 imaged with HST by
Smith et al. The simulated dataset is produced by lensing the Hubble Deep
Field, which serves as a background source image, with 150 realizations
(different projections and shifts) of five simulated z = 0.2 clusters from a
LambdaCDM N-body simulation. The real and simulated clusters have similar
masses, the real photometric redshift is used for each background source, and
all the observational effects influencing arc detection in the real dataset,
including light from cluster galaxies, are simulated in the artificial dataset.
We develop, and apply to both datasets, an objective automatic arc-finding
algorithm. We find consistent arc statistics in the real and in the simulated
sample, with an average of ~ 1 detected giant (length to width ratio >= 10) arc
per cluster and ~ 0.2 giant luminous (R<22.3 mag) arc per cluster. Thus, taking
into account a realistic source population and observational effects, the
clusters predicted by LambdaCDM have the same arc-production efficiency as the
observed clusters. If, as suggested by other studies, there is a discrepancy
between the predicted and the observed total number of arcs on the sky, it must
be the result of differences between the redshift dependent cluster mass
functions, and not due to differences in the lensing efficiency of the most
massive clusters.Comment: 13 pages, Accepted by ApJ, High resolution version of the paper can
be found at: ftp://wise3.tau.ac.il/pub/assafh/horesh_arcs_stat_2005.ps.gz,
Arc-finding algorithm available at: http://wise-obs.tau.ac.il/~assafh/ ; A
comment was added ; A missing x-axis label in Fig. 7 was adde
Discovery, Progenitor and Early Evolution of a Stripped Envelope Supernova iPTF13bvn
The intermediate Palomar Transient Factory reports our discovery of a young supernova, iPTF13bvn, in the nearby galaxy, NGC 5806 (22.5 Mpc). Our spectral sequence in the optical and infrared suggests a Type Ib classification. We identify a blue progenitor candidate in deep pre-explosion imaging within a 2σ error circle of 80 mas (8.7 pc). The candidate has an M_B luminosity of −5.52 ± 0.39 mag and a B − I color of 0.25 ± 0.25 mag. If confirmed by future observations, this would be the first direct detection for a progenitor of a Type Ib. Fitting a power law to the early light curve, we find an extrapolated explosion date around 0.6 days before our first detection. We see no evidence of shock cooling. The pre-explosion detection limits constrain the radius of the progenitor to be smaller than a few solar radii. iPTF13bvn is also detected in centimeter and millimeter wavelengths. Fitting a synchrotron self-absorption model to our radio data, we find a mass-loading parameter of 1.3×10^(12) g cm^(−1). Assuming a wind velocity of 10^3 km s^(−1), we derive a progenitor mass-loss rate of 3 × 10^(−5) M☉ yr^(−1). Our observations, taken as a whole, are consistent with a Wolf–Rayet progenitor of the supernova iPTF13bvn
The Unusual Radio Afterglow of the Ultra-Long Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 130925A
GRB 130925A is one of the recent additions to the growing family of ultra-long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs; T90≳1000 s). While the X-ray emission of ultra-long GRBs have been studied extensively in the past, no comprehensive radio data set has been obtained so far. We report here the early discovery of an unusual radio afterglow associated with the ultra-long GRB 130925A. The radio emission peaks at low-frequencies (~7 GHz) at early times, only 2.2 days after the burst occurred. More notably, the radio spectrum at frequencies above 10 GHz exhibits a rather steep cut-off, compared to other long GRB radio afterglows. This cut-off can be explained if the emitting electrons are either mono-energetic or originate from a rather steep, dN/dE ∝ E^(−4), power-law energy distribution. An alternative electron acceleration mechanism may be required to produce such an electron energy distribution. Furthermore, the radio spectrum exhibits a secondary underlying and slowly varying component. This may hint that the radio emission we observed is comprised of emission from both a reverse and a forward shock. We discuss our results in comparison with previous works that studied the unusual X-ray spectrum of this event and discuss the implications of our findings on progenitor scenarios
Seminal plasma and prostaglandin E2 up-regulate fibroblast growth factor 2 expression in endometrial adenocarcinoma cells via E-series prostanoid-2 receptor-mediated transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor and extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway
We report a multiwavelength (X-ray, ultraviolet/optical/infrared, radio)
analysis of the relativistic tidal disruption event candidate Sw J2058+05 from
3 months to 3 yr post-discovery in order to study its properties and compare
its behavior with that of Sw J1644+57. Our main results are as follows. (1) The
long-term X-ray light curve of Sw J2058+05 shows a remarkably similar trend to
that of Sw J1644+57. After a prolonged power-law decay, the X-ray flux drops
off rapidly by a factor of within a span of /
0.95. Associating this sudden decline with the transition from super-Eddington
to sub-Eddington accretion, we estimate the black hole mass to be in the range
of M. (2) We detect rapid ( s) X-ray
variability before the dropoff, suggesting that, even at late times, the X-rays
originate from close to the black hole (ruling out a forward-shock origin). (3)
We confirm using HST and VLBA astrometry that the location of the source
coincides with the galaxy's center to within pc (in projection).
(4) We modeled Sw J2058+05's ultraviolet/optical/infrared spectral energy
distribution with a single-temperature blackbody and find that while the radius
remains more or less constant at a value of AU (
cm) at all times during the outburst, the blackbody temperature drops
significantly from 30,000 K at early times to a value of 15,000 K
at late times (before the X-ray dropoff). Our results strengthen Sw J2058+05's
interpretation as a tidal disruption event similar to Sw J1644+57.Comment: Replaced with the published version of the manuscrip
Type Ibn Supernovae Show Photometric Homogeneity and Spectral Diversity at Maximum Light
Type Ibn supernovae (SNe) are a small yet intriguing class of explosions whose spectra are characterized by low-velocity helium emission lines with little to no evidence for hydrogen. The prevailing theory has been that these are the core-collapse explosions of very massive stars embedded in helium-rich circumstellar material (CSM). We report optical observations of six new SNe Ibn: PTF11rfh, PTF12ldy, iPTF14aki, iPTF15ul, SN 2015G, and iPTF15akq. This brings the sample size of such objects in the literature to 22. We also report new data, including a near-infrared spectrum, on the Type Ibn SN 2015U. In order to characterize the class as a whole, we analyze the photometric and spectroscopic properties of the full Type Ibn sample. We find that, despite the expectation that CSM interaction would generate a heterogeneous set of light curves, as seen in SNe IIn, most Type Ibn light curves are quite similar in shape, declining at rates around 0.1 mag day^(−1) during the first month after maximum light, with a few significant exceptions. Early spectra of SNe Ibn come in at least two varieties, one that shows narrow P Cygni lines and another dominated by broader emission lines, both around maximum light, which may be an indication of differences in the state of the progenitor system at the time of explosion. Alternatively, the spectral diversity could arise from viewing-angle effects or merely from a lack of early spectroscopic coverage. Together, the relative light curve homogeneity and narrow spectral features suggest that the CSM consists of a spatially confined shell of helium surrounded by a less dense extended wind
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