ASTRONOMY COLLOQUIUM
Cahill, Hameetman Auditorium
Searching for Signposts of Failed White Dwarf Supernovae
JJ Hermes,
Assistant Professor; Director of Graduate Admissions,
Boston University,
Type Ia supernovae involve the thermonuclear detonation of white dwarf stars, and are an essential tool allowing us to study the Universe on vast scales. However, Type Ia supernovae are not the only byproducts of the mergers at the endpoints of binaries. I will discuss the growing number of observational signposts that can distinguish populations of white dwarf stars that descend from failed Type Ia supernovae. I will also discuss how photometric surveys including Gaia, Kepler, TESS, and ZTF have allowed us better select merger byproducts among the population of typical stellar remnants, allowing us to better characterize the fossils in our nearby stellar graveyard.
For more information, please contact Jim Fuller by email at [email protected] or visit https://www.astro.caltech.edu.
Event Series
Astronomy Colloquium Series