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UID:UW-Physics-Event-1558
DTSTART:20100423T210000Z
DURATION:PT1H0M0S
DTSTAMP:20260506T161649Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20100419T164839Z
LOCATION:2241 Chamberlin Hall (coffee at 3:30 pm)
SUMMARY:The Transient Revolution in Astrophysics\, Physics Department 
 Colloquium\, Eliot Quataert\, UC-Berkeley
DESCRIPTION:The advent of large astronomical surveys based on rapid ad
 vances in detector technology and data storage is generating an unprec
 edented amount of data on time-variable astronomical objects\, up to 1
 00 Terabytes per night in the coming decade.  In addition to providing
  new insights into a wide variety of known phenomena (e.g.\, variable 
 stars\, supernovae\, and black holes)\, historical analogues suggest t
 hat these surveys are likely to discover entirely new classes of astro
 nomical objects.  I will illustrate the discovery potential of the cur
 rent generation of astrophysical transient surveys by focusing on two 
 concrete examples of "known unknowns." The first is a "kilonova" produ
 ced by the decay of heavy elements created during the merger of two ne
 utron stars or a neutron star and a black hole\; a similar transient c
 an be produced during the collapse of a white dwarf to a neutron star.
   These events are particularly interesting since they are the likely 
 progenitors of some gamma-ray bursts and are also the primary target f
 or km-scale gravitational wave observatories such as Advanced LIGO. Th
 e second "known unknown" I will highlight is a ~ week-long electromagn
 etic flare produced by the tidal disruption of a star that passes clos
 e to the event horizon of a massive black hole at the center of a gala
 xy.  The study and characterization of kilonovae and tidal disruption 
 events in the coming years will open up a new window onto the physics 
 and astrophysics of compact objects in the universe.
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=1558
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