Examinando por Autor "Mason, E."
Mostrando 1 - 2 de 2
Resultados por página
Opciones de ordenación
Ítem Luminous red novae: Stellar mergers or giant eruptions(Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2019) Pastorello, A.; Mason, E.; Taubenberger, S.; Fraser, M.; Cortini, G.; Tomasella, L.; Botticella, M.T.; Elias-Rosa, N.; Kotak, R.; Smartt, S.J.; Benetti, S.; Cappellaro, E.We present extensive datasets for a class of intermediate-luminosity optical transients known as luminous red novae. They show double-peaked light curves, with an initial rapid luminosity rise to a blue peak (at 13 to 15 mag), which is followed by a longer-duration red peak that sometimes is attenuated, resembling a plateau. The progenitors of three of them (NGC 44902011OT1, M1012015OT1, and SNhunt248), likely relatively massive blue to yellow stars, were also observed in a pre-eruptive stage when their luminosity was slowly increasing. Early spectra obtained during the first peak show a blue continuum with superposed prominent narrow Balmer lines, with P Cygni profiles. Lines of Fe II are also clearly observed, mostly in emission. During the second peak, the spectral continuum becomes much redder, H is barely detected, and a forest of narrow metal lines is observed in absorption. Very late-time spectra (6 months after blue peak) show an extremely red spectral continuum, peaking in the infrared (IR) domain. His detected in pure emission at such late phases, along with broad absorption bands due to molecular overtones (such as TiO, VO). We discuss a few alternative scenarios for luminous red novae. Although major instabilities of single massive stars cannot be definitely ruled out, we favour a common envelope ejection in a close binary system, with possibly a final coalescence of the two stars. The similarity between luminous red novae and the outburst observed a few months before the explosion of the Type IIn SN 2011ht is also discussed.Ítem The evolution of luminous red nova AT 2017jfs in NGC 4470(Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2019) Pastorello, A.; Chen, T.W.; Cai, Y. Z.; Morales-Garoffolo, A.; Cano, Z.; Mason, E.; Barsukova, E. A.; Benetti, S.; Berton, M.; Bose, S.; Bufano, F.; Callis, E.; Cannizzaro, G.; Cartier, R.; Chen, Ping; Dong, Subo; Dyrbye, S.; Elias-Rosa, N.; Flörs, A.; Fraser, M.; Geier, S.; Goranskij, V. P.; Kann, D. A.; Kuncarayakti, H.; Onori, F.; Reguitti, A.; Reynolds, T.; Losada, I. R.; Sagués Carracedo, A.; Schweyer, T.; Smartt, S. J.; Tatarnikov, A. M.; Valeev, A. F.; Vogl, C.; Wevers, T.; de Ugarte Postigo, A.; Izzo, L.; Inserra, C.; Kankare, E.; Maguire, K.; Smith, K. W.; Stalder, B.; Tartaglia, L.; Thöne, C. C.; Valerin, G.; Young, D. R.We present the results of our photometric and spectroscopic follow-up of the intermediate-luminosity optical transient AT 2017jfs. At peak, the object reaches an absolute magnitude of Mg = -15:46 ± 0:15 mag and a bolometric luminosity of 5:5 × 1041 erg s-1. Its light curve has the doublepeak shape typical of luminous red novae (LRNe), with a narrow first peak bright in the blue bands, while the second peak is longer-lasting and more luminous in the red and near-infrared (NIR) bands. During the first peak, the spectrum shows a blue continuum with narrow emission lines of H and Fe II. During the second peak, the spectrum becomes cooler, resembling that of a K-type star, and the emission lines are replaced by a forest of narrow lines in absorption. About 5 months later, while the optical light curves are characterized by a fast linear decline, the NIR ones show a moderate rebrightening, observed until the transient disappears in solar conjunction. At these late epochs, the spectrum becomes reminiscent of that of M-type stars, with prominent molecular absorption bands. The late-time properties suggest the formation of some dust in the expanding common envelope or an IR echo from foreground pre-existing dust. We propose that the object is a common-envelope transient, possibly the outcome of a merging event in a massive binary, similar to NGC4490-2011OT1.