Program: GN-2011A-Q-27
| Title: | Probing the Central Black Holes of Distant, Quiescent Galaxies via Tidal Disruption Flares |
| PI: | S Bradley Cenko |
| Co-I(s): | Joshua S Bloom, Eliot Quataert, Adam A Miller, Nat R Butler, Adam N Morgan, Linda Strubbe |
Abstract
A star passing within the sphere of influence of a massive black hole
will be torn apart by tidal forces. For sufficiently low-mass black
holes, the disruption will occur outside the event horizon and lead to
a bright, short-lived transient known as a tidal disruption flare
(TDF). Wide-field, high-cadence optical surveys such as the Palomar
Transient Factory will likely uncover a number of TDFs over the course of
semester 2011A. Here we request a ToO program with Gemini/GMOS to help
disambiguate the origin of a carefully selected sample of TDF candidates.
Our long-term aim is to to use these objects as probes of the properties
of central black holes in distant, quiescent galaxies beyond the reach of
current kinematic studies.
Publications using this program's data
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[data]
[ADS] An Extremely Luminous Panchromatic Outburst from the Nucleus of a Distant Galaxy
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[data]
[ADS] The Palomar Transient Factory Core-collapse Supernova Host-galaxy Sample. I. Host-galaxy Distribution Functions and Environment Dependence of Core-collapse Supernovae