Other
Scientific paper
Jul 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009hst..prop12151q&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #12151. Cycle 18
Other
Scientific paper
High-resolution imaging and spectroscopy by HST have established that all classical bulges host a massive black hole {BH}. The BH-bulge connection is less clear for lower mass BHs { 10^5-10^6 Msun} which inhabit lower mass galaxies, preferentially pseudobulges. The tidal disruption of stars produces a particularly unique probe of these BHs: if a star passes close to the BH, the BH's tidal gravity shreds it, releasing a flare of energy. Lower-mass BHs can produce extreme disruptions in which stellar debris feeds the BH at a rate far above the Eddington rate, producing an optically luminous outflow of gas. New optical transient surveys are expected to detect many of these tidal disruption events {TDEs} in the next few years. HST data will be critical to this endeavor: 1} ACS imaging to pinpoint candidates as nuclear, 2} STIS/COS spectroscopy to distinguish TDEs from other transient sources {we find UV lines to be the strongest discriminant}, and 3} photometric and kinematic measurements of low-mass galaxies to enable calculations of tidal disruption rates. Our theoretical work will support HST's vital contribution to this method of studying massive BHs in galaxies. We will: 1} use photoionization calculations to predict the spectral signature of TDEs, particularly in the UV, and 2} use HST observations of pseudobulges to predict tidal disruption rates for low-mass BHs.;
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