Search Publications
The Broad Absorption Line Tidal Disruption Event iPTF15af: Optical and Ultraviolet Evolution
Cenko, S. B.; Veilleux, S.; Bloom, J. S. +16 more
We present multiwavelength observations of the tidal disruption event (TDE) iPTF15af, discovered by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory survey at redshift z = 0.07897. The optical and ultraviolet (UV) light curves of the transient show a slow decay over 5 months, in agreement with previous optically discovered TDEs. It also has a comparable…
Black Hole Mass Scaling Relations for Spiral Galaxies. I. M BH-M *,sph
Graham, Alister W.; Davis, Benjamin L.; Cameron, Ewan
The (supermassive black hole mass, M BH)-(bulge stellar mass, {M}* ,{sph}) relation is, obviously, derived using two quantities. We endeavor to provide accurate values for the latter via detailed multicomponent galaxy decompositions for the current full sample of 43 spiral galaxies having directly measured M BH val…
The First Tidal Disruption Flare in ZTF: From Photometric Selection to Multi-wavelength Characterization
Cenko, S. Bradley; Riddle, Reed; Rusholme, Ben +37 more
We present Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) observations of the tidal disruption flare AT2018zr/PS18kh reported by Holoien et al. and detected during ZTF commissioning. The ZTF light curve of the tidal disruption event (TDE) samples the rise-to-peak exceptionally well, with 50 days of g- and r-band detections before the time of maximum light. We al…
A Spectroscopic Analysis of the California-Kepler Survey Sample. I. Stellar Parameters, Planetary Radii, and a Slope in the Radius Gap
Cunha, Katia; Smith, Verne V.; Martinez, Cintia F. +1 more
We present results from a quantitative spectroscopic analysis conducted on archival Keck/HIRES high-resolution spectra from the California-Kepler Survey (CKS) sample of transiting planetary host stars identified from the Kepler mission. The spectroscopic analysis was based on a carefully selected set of Fe I and Fe II lines, resulting in precise v…
The Degree of Alignment between Circumbinary Disks and Their Binary Hosts
Torres, Guillermo; Wilner, David J.; Macintosh, Bruce +5 more
All four circumbinary (CB) protoplanetary disks orbiting short-period (P < 20 days) double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s)—a group that includes UZ Tau E, for which we present new Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array data—exhibit sky-plane inclinations i disk that match, to within a few degrees, the sky-plane inclinations…
The Unusual Initial Mass Function of the Arches Cluster
Hosek, Matthew W., Jr.; Lu, Jessica R.; Clarkson, William I. +5 more
As a young massive cluster in the central molecular zone, the Arches cluster is a valuable probe of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in the extreme Galactic center environment. We use multi-epoch Hubble Space Telescope observations to obtain high-precision proper-motion and photometric measurements of the cluster, calculating cluster member…
Discovery and Early Evolution of ASASSN-19bt, the First TDE Detected by TESS
Morrell, Nidia; Strader, Jay; Newman, Andrew B. +23 more
We present the discovery and early evolution of ASASSN-19bt, a tidal disruption event (TDE) discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) at a distance of d ≃ 115 Mpc and the first TDE to be detected by TESS. As the TDE is located in the TESS Continuous Viewing Zone, our data set includes 30 minute cadence observations starti…
Origin of the Excess of High-energy Retrograde Stars in the Galactic Halo
Matsuno, Tadafumi; Aoki, Wako; Suda, Takuma
We report on the very low α-element abundances of a group of metal-poor stars with high orbital energy and with large retrograde motion in the Milky Way halo, whose excess has been reported recently from metallicity and kinematics. We constructed a sample of halo stars with measured abundances and precise kinematics, including ∼880 stars with [Fe/…
The Foundation Supernova Survey: Measuring Cosmological Parameters with Supernovae from a Single Telescope
Berger, E.; Kirshner, R. P.; Rest, A. +27 more
Measurements of the dark energy equation-of-state parameter, w, have been limited by uncertainty in the selection effects and photometric calibration of z < 0.1 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The Foundation Supernova Survey is designed to lower these uncertainties by creating a new sample of z < 0.1 SNe Ia observed on the Pan-STARRS system. He…
The Recent Burstiness of Star Formation in Galaxies at z ∼ 4.5 from Hα Measurements
Tacchella, Sandro; Larson, Kirsten L.; Faisst, Andreas L. +2 more
The redshift range z = 4-6 marks a transition phase between primordial and mature galaxy formation in which galaxies considerably increase their stellar mass, metallicity, and dust content. The study of galaxies in this redshift range is therefore important to understanding early galaxy formation and the fate of galaxies at later times. Here, we i…