8 papers
Semi-analytical Light Curve Model for Transients Preceding Binary Mergers. I: Supernova Precursor Emission from Compact Object Companions
Daichi Tsuna, Morgan Macleod, V. Ashley Villar
A binary undergoing dynamically unstable mass transfer could rapidly shrink its orbit and lead to a merger, with the whole process often observable in human timescales. We construc…
The Binary Populations of Stellar Streams are Set by Cluster Dynamics
Anya Phillips, Charlie Conroy, Jacob Nibauer +5
We present a suite of direct N-body simulations of low mass () globular cluster streams initialized with observationally-motivated binary demographics in order to…
The Landscape of Unstable Mass Transfer in Interacting Binaries and Its Imprint on the Population of Luminous Red Novae
Angela A. G. Twum, Alejandro Vigna-Gómez, Morgan MacLeod +4
A common-envelope (CE) phase occurs when a star engulfs its companion and is widely considered the primary channel for producing Luminous Red Novae (LRNe). In this study, we combin…
Betelgeuse: Detection of the Expanding Wake of the Companion Star
Andrea K. Dupree, Paul I. Cristofari, Morgan MacLeod +1
Recent analyses conclude that Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star (HD 39801), likely has a companion object with a period of about 2000 days orbiting at only 2.3 stellar radii, deep…
Evolution of the ZTF SLRN-2020 star-planet merger
Ricardo Yarza, Morgan MacLeod, Benjamin Idini +2
We model the optical and infrared transient ZTF SLRN-2020, previously associated with a star-planet merger. We consider the scenario in which orbital decay via tidal dissipation le…
Evidence for an Instability-Induced Binary Merger in the Double-Peaked, Helium-Rich Type IIn Supernova 2023zkd
A. Gagliano, V. A. Villar, T. Matsumoto +42
We present ultraviolet to infrared observations of the extraordinary Type IIn supernova 2023zkd (SN 2023zkd). Photometrically, it exhibits persistent and luminous precursor emissio…