Other
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21810702f&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #107.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Other
Scientific paper
Using archival SDSS multi-epoch imaging data (Stripe 82), we have searched for the tidal disruption of stars by super-massive black holes in non-active galaxies. Two candidate tidal disruption events (TDEs) are identified, using a pipeline with high rejection efficiency and minimal selection bias. Their properties are examined using
i) SDSS imaging to compare them to other flares observed in the search, ii) UV emission measured by GALEX and iii) spectra of the hosts and of one the flares. This evidence shows that a SN or AGN-flare explanation is not viable. The flares are unlike any SN observed to date -- the spectra and strong late-time UV emission being particularly distinctive. Statistical arguments and host Hubble-type show it is highly unlikely that they are type IIn SNe or members of a previously-unobserved class of SNe. Furthermore, the strength of the candidate TDE flares is far greater than seen in variable AGNs and their hosts are much quieter in off-seasons than hosts of AGN flares. The properties of the flares are readily understood assuming they are examples of the stellar tidal disruption phenomenon. Our search is most sensitive to black hole masses 10^7 Msun and the measured rate is consistent with theoretical predictions for black holes in this range. The TDE flares have optical black-body temperatures 2x10^4 K and M_g = -18.3 and -20.4; their cooling rates are very low. We infer that hundreds or thousands of TDEs will be present in current and next-generation optical synoptic surveys. Using the approach outlined here, a TDE candidate sample with O(1) purity can be selected using geometric resolution and host and flare color alone, demonstrating that a campaign to create a large sample of tidal disruption events, with immediate and detailed multi-wavelength follow-up, is feasible.
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