Related papers: Red novae, their progenitors, and remnants

In the past decade, several rapidly-evolving transients have been discovered whose timescales and luminosities are not easily explained by traditional supernovae (SN) models. The sample size of these objects has remained small due, at least…

The brightness of type Ia supernovae, and their homogeneity as a class, makes them powerful tools in cosmology, yet little is known about the progenitor systems of these explosions. They are thought to arise when a white dwarf accretes…

A massive millisecond magnetar may survive a merger of a neutron star (NS) binary, which would continuously power the merger ejecta. We develop a generic dynamic model for the merger ejecta with energy injection from the central magnetar.…

Currently, it may take days for a bright nova outburst to be detected. With the few exceptions, little is known about novae behaviour prior to maximum light. A theoretically-predicted population of ultra-fast novae with t2<1d is evading…

Theoretical modelling of the evolution of classical and recurrent novae plays an important role in studies of binary evolution, nucleosynthesis and accretion physics. However, from a theoretical perspective the observed statistical…

Neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes are the remnants of massive stars, which ended their lives in supernova explosions. These exotic objects can only be studied in relatively rare cases. If they are interacting with close companions…

Classical novae are the product of thermonuclear runaway-initiated explosions occurring on accreting white dwarfs. V339 Del (Nova Delphinus 2013) was one of the brightest classical novae of the last hundred years. Spectroscopy and…

Here we present new - and, nevertheless, last - mid-infrared (mid-IR) data for supernovae (SNe) based on measurements with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Comparing our recent 3.6 and 4.5 $\mu$m photometry with previously published mid-IR and…

It is now firmly established that at a significant fraction of hydrogen-rich type II supernovae (SNe II) arise from red supergiant progenitors. However, a large diversity of SN properties exist, and it is presently unclear how this can be…

We review the near-infrared properties of classical novae in the J, H and K bands at wavelengths between 1.08 to 2.4 micron. A classification system exists for the early post-outburst optical spectra of novae on the basis of the strength of…

Massive stars less massive than ~30 Msol evolve into a red supergiant after the main sequence. Given a standard IMF, this means about 80% of all single massive stars will experience this phase. RSGs are dominated by convection, with a…

Classical novae in the Milky Way have now been well-established as high-energy GeV $\gamma$-ray sources. In novae with main-sequence companions, this emission is believed to result from shocks internal to the nova ejecta, as a later fast…

The rate evolution of subluminous Type Ia Supernovae is presented using data from the Supernova Legacy Survey. This sub-sample represents the faint and rapidly-declining light-curves of the observed supernova Ia (SN Ia) population here…

Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are securely understood to come from the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf as a result of binary interaction, but the nature of that binary interaction and the secondary object is uncertain. Recently, a…

A search of the first Data Release of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) Survey discovered the exceptionally red transient VVV-WIT-01 ($H-K_s=5.2$). It peaked before March 2010, then faded by $\sim$9.5 mag over the following two…

Nova super-remnants (NSRs) are substantially extended structures (up to ~130 parsecs across) encompassing recurrent novae. NSRs grow as a result of frequent nova eruptions transporting vast quantities of the locally surrounding interstellar…

We find that spectroscopically peculiar subluminous SNe Ia come from an old population. Of the sixteen subluminous SNe Ia known, ten are found in E/S0 galaxies, and the remainder are found in early-type spirals. The probability that this is…

Super-luminous supernovae that radiate more than 10^44 ergs per second at their peak luminosity have recently been discovered in faint galaxies at redshifts of 0.1-4. Some evolve slowly, resembling models of 'pair-instability' supernovae.…

Kilonovae are a rare class of astrophysical transients powered by the radioactive decay of nuclei heavier than iron, synthesized in the merger of two compact objects. Over the first few days, the kilonova evolution is dominated by a large…

We report the discovery of 2M0056-08 as an equal-mass eclipsing binary (EB), comprising two red straggler stars (RSSs) with an orbital period of 33.9 d. Both stars have masses of 1.419 Msun, identical to within 0.2%. Both stars appear to be…