Related papers: UV/Optical Detections of Candidate Tidal Disruptio…
We present near ultraviolet (NUV:1750 - 2800\AA) and far ultraviolet (FUV: 1350 - 1750\AA) light-curves for flares on 4 nearby dMe-type stars (GJ 3685A, CR Dra, AF Psc and SDSS J084425.9+513830.5) observed with the GALEX satellite. Taking…
The tidal disruption of a star by a massive black hole is expected to yield a luminous flare of thermal emission. About two dozen of these stellar tidal disruption flares (TDFs) may have been detected in optical transient surveys. However,…
The process of tidal disruption of stars by a supermassive black hole (SMBH) provides luminous UV and soft X-ray flares with peak luminosities of $\approx 10^{46}$ ergs/sec and duration of a few months. As part of a wider exploration of the…
It has been demonstrated that active galactic nuclei are powered by gas accretion onto supermassive black holes located at their centres. The paradigm that the nuclei of inactive galaxies are also occupied by black holes was predicted long…
We have used the GALEX ultraviolet telescope to study stellar populations and star formation morphology in a well-defined sample of 42 nearby optically-selected pre-merger interacting galaxy pairs. Galaxy interactions were likely far more…
We study X-ray bright tidal disruption events (TDE), close to the peak of their emission, with the intention of understanding the evolution of their light curves and spectra. Candidate TDE are identified by searching for soft X-ray flares…
Tidal disruption of stars by massive black holes produce transient accretion flows that flare at optical, UV, and X-ray wavelengths. At late times, these accretion flows may launch relativistic jets that can be detected through the…
Large-amplitude, high-luminosity soft X-ray flares were detected by the ROSAT All-Sky Survey in several galaxies with no evidence of Seyfert activity in their ground-based optical spectra. These flares had the properties predicted for a…
Most tidal disruption events (TDEs) are currently found in time-domain optical and soft X-ray surveys, both of which are prone to significant obscuration. The infrared (IR), however, is a powerful probe of dust-enshrouded environments, and…
We report an observational estimate of the rate of stellar tidal disruption flares (TDFs), based on our (successful) search for these events in archival Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) multi-epoch imaging data. Our pipeline took advantage…
We combine GALEX (ultra-violet; UV) and SDSS (optical) photometry to study the recent star formation histories of ~100 field galaxies on the optical red sequence, a large fraction of which exhibit widespread signs of disturbed morphologies…
The radius and surface composition of an exploding massive star,as well as the explosion energy per unit mass, can be measured using early UV observations of core collapse supernovae (SNe). We present the first results from a simultaneous…
New GALEX observations have detected significant FUV (1530 Angstroms) and NUV (2310 Angstroms) emission from stellar substructures within the tidal tails of four ongoing galaxy mergers. The UV-bright regions are optically faint and are…
Multiwavelength flares from tidal disruption and accretion of stars can be used to find and study otherwise dormant massive black holes in galactic nuclei. Previous well-monitored candidate flares are short-lived, with most emission…
Tidal disruption events of stars by supermassive black holes have so far been discovered months to years after the fact. In this paper we explore the short, faint and hard burst of radiation is emitted at maximum compression, as a result of…
Observations of luminous flares resulting from the possible tidal disruption of stars by supermassive black holes have raised a number of puzzles. Outstanding questions include the origin of the optical and ultraviolet (UV) flux, the…
UV and optically selected candidates for stellar tidal disruption events (TDE) often exhibit broad spectral features (HeII emission, H$\alpha$ emission, or absorption lines) on a blackbody-like continuum (1e4K<T<1e5K). The lines presumably…
We discuss the UV, optical, and IR properties of the SDSS sources detected by GALEX as part of its All-sky Imaging Survey Early Release Observations. Virtually all of the GALEX sources in the overlap region are detected by SDSS. GALEX…
The X-ray flares of NGC 5905, RX J1242.6-1119A, and RX J1624.9+7554 observed by Chandra in 2001 and 2002 have been suggested as the candidate tidal disruption events. The distinct features observed from these events may be used to determine…
Tidal disruption events which repeat on timescales of months-to-years represent an unambiguous signature of a partial disruption, with the surviving stellar remnant returning to pericentre to be repeatedly stripped by tidal forces. These…