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Old 16-11-2017, 09:21 AM
gary
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Exclamation PS1-10adi - an incredibly large explosion 2.4 billion light-years distant

In a press release at the University of Belfast, it has been announced that
astronomers, using all-sky surveys, have discovered an extremely
energetic explosion, much larger than normal supernova, which they
have designated PS1-10adi.

PS1-10adi had a total radiated energy output of ~2.3 × 10**52 erg.

What's more, they now realize that PS1-10adi is not an isolated case
and that similar transients may have been overlooked in the past.

Quote:
Originally Posted by University of Belfast
Using telescopes on La Palma and Hawaii, Dr Kankare detected an explosion that was so energetic, it must have originated from one of two sources: an extremely massive star – up to several hundred times more massive than our Sun – exploding as a supernova, or from a lower mass star that has been shredded by the ultra-strong gravitational forces close to the supermassive black hole.

The explosion was discovered 2010, but due to its slow evolution, it could be monitored for several years.

Explaining the findings, Dr Kankare commented: “If these explosions are tidal disruption events - where a star gets sufficiently close to a supermassive black hole's event horizon and is shredded by the strong gravitational forces - then its properties are such that it would be a brand new type of tidal disruption event. If they are supernova explosions then their properties are more extreme than we have ever observed before, and are likely connected to the central environments of the host galaxies.

The supernova group at Queen’s University Belfast has long-standing expertise in supernova science and were immediately able to recognise PS1-10adi as an unusual transient. The team has also discovered at least five more candidates worthy of further study.

Dr Rubina Kotak, co-author of the study, commented: “Now that we know what we are looking for, we are particularly excited that we will find more transients such as PS1-10adi in larger datasets from upcoming facilities. This means that we are in a fantastic position to pin down their origin, and this will help to piece together more clues of how these events come about.”
Full press release here :-
https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/Q...antgalaxy.html

The discovery has also been reported at phys.org :-
https://phys.org/news/2017-11-astron...explosion.html

The work is published in Nature Astronomy in a letter entitled "A population of highly energetic transient events in the centres of active galaxies" by Kankare et. al.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kankare et. al. Nature Astronomy

A population of highly energetic transient events in the centres of active galaxies

Abstract

Recent all-sky surveys have led to the discovery of new types of transients.

These include stars disrupted by the central supermassive black hole, and supernovae that are 10–100 times more energetic than typical ones.

However, the nature of even more energetic transients that apparently occur in the innermost regions of their host galaxies is hotly debated.

Here we report the discovery of the most energetic of these to date: PS1-10adi, with a total radiated energy of ~2.3 × 10**52 erg.

The slow evolution of its light curve and persistently narrow spectral lines over ∼ 3 yr are inconsistent with known types of recurring black hole variability.

The observed properties imply powering by shock interaction between expanding material and large quantities of surrounding dense matter.

Plausible sources of this expanding material are a star that has been tidally disrupted by the central black hole, or a supernova.

Both could satisfy the energy budget. For the former, we would be forced to invoke a new and hitherto unseen variant of a tidally disrupted star, while a supernova origin relies principally on environmental effects resulting from its nuclear location.

Remarkably, we also discover that PS1-10adi is not an isolated case.

We therefore surmise that this new population of transients has previously been overlooked due to incorrect association with underlying central black hole activity.
Paper here (requires subscription) :-
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-017-0290-2
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Old 16-11-2017, 02:28 PM
PeterM
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Thanks for posting Gary.

Yay, Supernova become sexy again in Astronomy.... time to take the cover off the 12inch...
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Old 16-11-2017, 04:22 PM
gary
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterM View Post
Thanks for posting Gary.

Yay, Supernova become sexy again in Astronomy.... time to take the cover off the 12inch...
Hi Peter,

Did you see this thread the other day as well? :-
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=162703

I was wondering what you, Greg and the BOSS team make of it
given you must be steeped in a lot of science of supernovas by now.

I had never heard of a "Pulsational Pair-Instability Supernovae".

Have you come across this classification before?

Best Regards

Gary
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