Astronomy & Astrophysics Seminar: Searching for Nuclear Transients via Large Optical Sky Surveys

Zoom: https://tau-ac-il.zoom.us/j/87875748926?pwd=MGh1dk9DeXBxa2FEL0thMVRaaHZGQT09

Abstract:

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs) are two phenomena that can lead to a deeper understanding of the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) that reside at the centres of all massive galaxies. Past optical surveys, such as the SDSS and PTF, have opened the way to studying both these phenomena using large samples of data. Current (e.g. ZTF) and future (e.g LSST) surveys will provide long timespan, high cadence lightcurves for millions more galaxies than these earlier surveys, allowing us to study nuclear transients to an even greater level of detail. In this talk, I will focus on the possibilities and challenges of searching for extreme/unusual AGN activity and TDEs in large datasets provided by large optical surveys and what we can learn from large statistical studies on these events. I will discuss the methods but also the tools that the astronomical community has developed for this task to make the search of nuclear transients efficient using nightly photometric data. Finally, I will discuss the first results from searching for nuclear transients in ZTF and Gaia data, focusing on a few of the most interesting cases.

Seminar Organizer: Dr. Iair Arcavi