Related papers: The energy source of intermediate luminosity optic…
We present the class of extreme nuclear transients (ENTs), including the most energetic single transient yet discovered, Gaia18cdj. Each ENT is coincident with its host-galaxy nucleus and exhibits a smooth ($<$$10$% excess variability),…
Interaction of supernova (SN) ejecta with the optically thick circumstellar medium (CSM) of a progenitor star can result in a bright, long-lived shock breakout event. Candidates for such SNe include Type IIn and superluminous SNe. If some…
Most Type I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) reported to date have been identified by their high peak luminosities and spectra lacking obvious signs of hydrogen. We demonstrate that these events can be distinguished from normal-luminosity…
The majority of thermonuclear explosions in the Universe seem to proceed in a rather standardised way, as explosions of carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarfs in binary systems, leading to 'normal' Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). However, over the…
Recent observations of the luminosity-redshift in Type Ia supernovae suggest an accelerated inflation of the Universe (open Universe) as well as the observed matter density showed to be less than the critical one, suggesting that a large…
The Italian gamma-ray satellite AGILE has recently reported the detection of some variable high-energy sources likely of galactic origin. These sources do not have any obvious counterpart at lower energies. We propose that these sources are…
Transient surveys have recently discovered a class of supernovae (SNe) with extremely rapidly declining light curves. These events are also often relatively faint, especially compared to Type Ia SNe. The common explanation for these events…
We present observations of the unusual optical transient SN 2010U, including spectra taken 1.03 days to 15.3 days after maximum light that identify it as a fast and luminous Fe II type nova. Our multi-band light curve traces the fast…
We examine a model for the variable free-free and neutral hydrogen absorption inferred towards the cores of some compact radio galaxies in which a spatially fluctuating medium drifts in front of the source. We relate the absorption-induced…
Transient short-period <100s oscillations have been found in the X-ray light curves of three novae during their SSS phase and in one persistent SSS. We pursue an observational approach to determine possible driving mechanisms and relations…
We use 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the long-term evolution of neutron star merger ejecta to predict the light curves of electromagnetic transients that are powered by the decay of freshly produced r-process nuclei. For the dynamic ejecta…
We report extensive observational data for five of the lowest redshift Super-Luminous Type Ic Supernovae (SL-SNe Ic) discovered to date, namely PTF10hgi, SN2011ke, PTF11rks, SN2011kf and SN2012il. Photometric imaging of the transients at…
The extreme infrared (IR) luminosity of local luminous and ultra-luminous IR galaxies (U/LIRGs; 11 < log LIR /Lsun < 12 and log LIR /Lsun > 12, respectively) is mainly powered by star-formation processes triggered by mergers or…
Luminous Red Novae (LRNe) are transients associated with mass ejection during stellar mergers and common envelope evolution (CEE). LRNe have the potential to illuminate the poorly understood phases of binary evolution leading up to the CEE,…
We present a re-analysis of the H$\alpha$ and [OIII] flux data from the only comprehensive study of the luminosity evolution of nova shells, undertaken almost two decades ago. We use newly available distances and extinction values, and…
Type Ibn supernovae (SNe) are a mysterious class of transients whose spectra exhibit persistently narrow HeI lines, and whose bolometric light curves are typically fast evolving and overluminous at peak relative to standard Type Ibc SNe. We…
The kinetic energy of supernovae (SNe) accompanied by gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) tends to cluster near E52 erg, with 2.E52 erg an upper limit to which no compelling exceptions are found (assuming a certain degree of asphericity), and it is…
We survey our understanding of classical novae: non-terminal, thermonuclear eruptions on the surfaces of white dwarfs in binary systems. The recent and unexpected discovery of GeV gamma-rays from Galactic novae has highlighted the…
Illumination of a two-dimensional system by a twisted light beam is considered in order to find specific effects caused by twisting. Direct interband transitions between the valence and conduction bands are supposed. The generation rates of…
The hot and dense core formed in the collapse of a massive star is a powerful source of hypothetical feebly-interacting particles such as sterile neutrinos, dark photons, axion-like particles (ALPs), and others. Radiative decays such as…