Related papers: Calcium-rich Gap Transients: Solving the Calcium C…
We put constraints on the properties of the progenitors of peculiar calcium-rich transients using the distribution of locations within their host galaxies. We confirm that this class of transients do not follow the galaxy stellar mass…
The hot Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM) in clusters of galaxies is a very large repository of metals produced by supernovae. We aim to accurately measure the abundances in the ICM of many clusters and compare these data with metal yields…
We use our new stellar population models, which include effects from variable element abundance ratios, to model the Ca4227 absorption line indices of early-type galaxies (Trager et al.), and to derive calcium element abundances. We find…
The hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) is rich in metals, which are synthesised by supernovae (SNe) and accumulate over time into the deep gravitational potential well of clusters of galaxies. Since most of the elements visible in X-rays are…
Clusters of galaxies as the largest clearly defined objects in our Universe are ideal laboratories to study the distribution of the most abundant chemical elements heavier than hydrogen and helium and the history of their production. The…
The progenitor systems of the class of "Ca-rich transients" is a key open issue in time domain astrophysics. These intriguing objects exhibit unusually strong calcium line emissions months after explosion, fall within an intermediate…
We present the Palomar Transient Factory discoveries and the photometric and spectroscopic observations of PTF11kmb and PTF12bho. We show that both transients have properties consistent with the class of calcium-rich gap transients,…
Calcium-rich (Ca-rich) transients are a new class of supernovae (SNe) that are known for their comparatively rapid evolution, modest peak luminosities, and strong nebular calcium emission lines. Currently, the progenitor systems of Ca-rich…
Because of their deep gravitational potential wells, clusters of galaxies retain all the metals produced by the stellar populations of the member galaxies. Most of these metals reside in the hot plasma which dominates the baryon content of…
The metal abundance of the hot plasma that permeates galaxy clusters represents the accumulation of heavy elements produced by billions of supernovae. Therefore, X-ray spectroscopy of the intracluster medium provides an opportunity to…
We present deep VLT and HST observations of the nearest examples of calcium-rich 'gap' transients -- rapidly evolving transient events, with a luminosity intermediate between novae and supernovae. These sources are frequently found at large…
(Abridged) Using the Zwicky Transient Facility alert stream, we are conducting a large campaign to spectroscopically classify all transients occurring in galaxies in the Census of the Local Universe (CLU) catalog. The aim of the experiment…
We hypothesize that at least some of the recently discovered class of calcium-rich gap transients are tidal detonation events of white dwarfs (WDs) by black holes (BHs) or possibly neutron stars. We show that the properties of the…
Calcium-strong transients (CaSTs) are a subclass of faint and rapidly evolving supernovae (SNe) that exhibit strong calcium features and notably weak oxygen features. The small but growing population of CaSTs exhibits some aspects similar…
We examine Ca abundances in classical novae from spectroscopic observations spanning 65 years and investigate whether they are systematically high compared to those predicted by nova models. For the first time, we perform Monte Carlo…
A new class of faint, spectroscopically peculiar transients has emerged in the last decade. We term these events "calcium-strong transients" (CaSTs) because of their atypically high calcium-to-oxygen nebular line ratios. Previous studies…
We have investigated the abundance of calcium in early-type galaxies by measuring the strength of the Ca I 4227 absorption line in their integrated spectra. The database used is the large sample of early-type galaxy integrated spectra in…
From the first two seasons of the Palomar Transient Factory, we identify three peculiar transients (PTF09dav, PTF10iuv, PTF11bij) with five distinguishing characteristics: peak luminosity in the gap between novae and supernovae (M_R = 15.5…
We present a study of the properties of the host galaxies of unusual transient objects of two types, both being sub-luminous compared with the major classes of supernovae. Those of one type exhibit unusually strong calcium features, and…
Hot, X-ray emitting gaseous halos around massive elliptical galaxies are a result of both stellar mass loss and inflow toward the overdensity from which giant ellipticals and their associated galaxy groups formed. The metal abundance in…