Browsing by Author "Morrell, Nidia"

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    OPTICAL DISCOVERY OF PROBABLE STELLAR TIDAL DISRUPTION FLARES
    (2011) van Velzen, Sjoert; Farrar, Glennys R; Gezari, Suvi; Morrell, Nidia; Zaritsky, Dennis; Östman, Linda; Smith, Mathew; Gelfand, Joseph; Drake, Andrew J
    Using archival Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) multi-epoch imaging data (Stripe 82), we have searched for the tidal disruption of stars by supermassive black holes in non-active galaxies. Two candidate tidal disruption events (TDEs) are identified. The TDE flares have optical blackbody temperatures of 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 4} K and observed peak luminosities of M{sub g} = -18.3 and -20.4 ({nu}L{sub {nu}} = 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 42}, 4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 43} erg s{sup -1}, in the rest frame); their cooling rates are very low, qualitatively consistent with expectations for tidal disruption flares. The properties of the TDE candidates are examined using (1) SDSS imaging to compare them to other flares observed in the search, (2) UV emission measured by GALEX, and (3) spectra of the hosts and of one of the flares. Our pipeline excludes optically identifiable AGN hosts, and our variability monitoring over nine years provides strong evidence that these are not flares in hidden AGNs. The spectra and color evolution of the flares are unlike any SN observed to date, their strong late-time UV emission is particularly distinctive, and they are nuclear at high resolution arguing against these being first cases of a previously unobserved class of SNemore » or more extreme examples of known SN types. Taken together, the observed properties are difficult to reconcile with an SN or an AGN-flare explanation, although an entirely new process specific to the inner few hundred parsecs of non-active galaxies cannot be excluded. Based on our observed rate, 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 TDEs, with immediate and detailed multi-wavelength follow-up, is feasible. A by-product of this work is quantification of the power spectrum of extreme flares in AGNs.« less
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    SPIRITS: Uncovering Unusual Infrared Transients with Spitzer
    (2017) Kasliwal, Mansi M; Bally, John; Masci, Frank; Cody, Ann Marie; Bond, Howard E; Jencson, Jacob E; Cao, Yi; Boyer, Martha; Cantiello, Matteo; Cook, David; Hsiao, Eric; Khan, Rubab M; Milne, Peter; Morrell, Nidia; Ofek, Eran O; Perley, Daniel A; Phillips, Mark; Prince, Thomas A; Shenoy, Dinesh; Surace, Jason; Dyk, Schuyler D Van; Whitelock, Patricia A; Williams, Robert
    We present an ongoing, five-year systematic search for extragalactic infrared transients, dubbed SPIRITS—SPitzer InfraRed Intensive Transients Survey. In the first year, using Spitzer /IRAC, we searched 190 nearby galaxies with cadence baselines of one month and six months. We discovered over 1958 variables and 43 transients. Here, we describe the survey design and highlight 14 unusual infrared transients with no optical counterparts to deep limits, which we refer to as SPRITEs (eSPecially Red Intermediate-luminosity Transient Events). SPRITEs are in the infrared luminosity gap between novae and supernovae, with [4.5] absolute magnitudes between −11 and −14 (Vega-mag) and [3.6]–[4.5] colors between 0.3 mag and 1.6 mag. The photometric evolution of SPRITEs is diverse, ranging from <0.1 mag yr{sup −1} to >7 mag yr{sup −1}. SPRITEs occur in star-forming galaxies. We present an in-depth study of one of them, SPIRITS 14ajc in Messier 83, which shows shock-excited molecular hydrogen emission. This shock may have been triggered by the dynamic decay of a non-hierarchical system of massive stars that led to either the formation of a binary or a protostellar merger.