Coffee talks
Friday 22/02/2019 @ 11:30, Sala riunioni quarto piano
Giulia Migliori (INAF-IRA), "Roaring to whispering: 218 wild days in the life of AT2018 cow"
Recent high-cadence surveys have uncovered a plethora of transients with diverse observed properties that challenge our current notions of stellar death. Among these, “Fast Blue Optical Transients” (FBOTs) are rapidly evolving (trise<5d), luminous (Mpeak10 keV, in addition to luminous and highly variable soft X-rays. The observed short timescale variability, high peak luminosity, and lack of UV line blanketing are in tension with traditional SN models powered by the radioactive decay of 56Ni. I will discuss the possible alternative scenarios, including: (i) the interaction of the explosion’s shock wave with a dense circumstellar medium; (ii) models involving prolonged energy injection from a central compact object.